


Take on the World

by MW1983



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Eleven | Jane Hopper Needs A Hug, Eleven | Jane Hopper is a Byers - eventually, F/M, Fluff, High School, Hurt/Comfort, Mike Wheeler Is A Sap, Mike Wheeler Loves Eleven | Jane Hopper, My First Fanfic, One-Sided Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, Sad Eleven | Jane Hopper, Slow Burn, Step-Siblings Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers Loves Mike Wheeler
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24457210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MW1983/pseuds/MW1983
Summary: Picture this: it’s June 1985 in Hawkins, Indiana. The Party is together studying for their final exams before summer vacation begins. Only, not the entire Party is present. Eleven wasn’t able to make it to the Wheeler’s that day, leaving Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Max with an overly-moody Mike. But what happens when Hopper is called in at the last minute for an investigation in another county?This fic has many canon divergences. The first seven chapters are set between seasons two and three. Chapter eight through twenty is set post season three. I don’t want to say what I changed and didn’t because that would spoil too much of the story.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 15
Kudos: 29





	1. Wishful Thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I originally started this fic on Wattpad but I decided to post it here, as well as FanFiction.net, because why not? This was my first ever attempt at writing anything like this. I had only ever been in two other fandoms prior (Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish) so I never really knew fanfiction was a thing to be honest. Heck, I didn't know what Stranger Things was until last year (I had heard it mentioned but I was told it would scare me and I never really watched anything on Netflix, either, with an exception of Friends, haha).
> 
> I am still relatively new to the fandom, I binged all three seasons in July about a week after season three was released and fell in love with the show and Mileven especially because their relationship has many parallels to that of my boyfriend and I (and for many other reasons besides those similarities). This show was so fascinating and funny and heart-wrenching all at the same time and has helped me through some very hard times. I won't babble on about that unless someone wants me to, haha.
> 
> It's safe to say I bit off a little more than I could chew when I started this because I had no idea what the hell I was doing, but I have picked up many new techniques since September when I started this and now this story is as good as it will get.
> 
> I have 18 out of 20 chapters of this story done already so I will try to get them out at a somewhat regular pace, but I don't want to upload them all at once and not release anything for a while because, ya know, writer's block, haha.
> 
> Please leave a comment and kudos if you enjoyed! Feel free to ask questions (about me or the chapter) and I will try my best to answer them.  
> Thank you for reading!

One: _Wishful Thinking._

“Lying around, daydreaming  
Wanting you now, but that's wishful thinking”

Date: Sunday, June 2nd, 1985

* * *

Eleven sat on her bedroom floor, talking with her beloved Michael Wheeler. The last time they were together was at the Snowball dance on Saturday, December 15th, 1984.

That was the day Mike asked her to be his girlfriend, to which she said yes. Mike was so shocked that she agreed, but was even more surprised when she kissed him out of the blue.

Electricity coursed through his veins at the contact, her lips on his, her hands clutching onto his neck while his remained on the small of her back. Touching her, even in such an innocent way, increased Mike's heart rate to three thousand beats a minute and heavy clouds of heat suffocated him from everywhere.

Mike would never get used to the way Eleven made him feel.

Her lips lingered on his for a few seconds longer than their prior kisses, not that Mike had an issue with that. In fact, he enjoyed the affectionate action quite a lot, especially because it was the first time El initiated it.

That incredible night was 168 days ago.

Much to her dismay, that was the only night Hopper agreed to let her go out. She knew how dangerous it was, but she didn't even want to be in public if she left the cozy cabin. Mike's house was the only place she wanted to be—her first real home.

But, the chief of police did allow his adopted daughter to talk to her boyfriend on the phone or with the Supercomm that she received for Christmas as a joint gift from the boys. The distance between their homes caused them to be outside of the range so El sometimes had to use her powers to get through to him.

Each night, the couple would discuss their day. Letting their other half know of all their ups and downs throughout the long hours they were unable to speak. Eleven happily informed him of the new things she was learning, showing off new vocabulary words and her strengthening sentence forming.

Mike would tell her all about the funny things Dustin had said or Will's latest masterpiece, or how badly he missed her.

He even told her about Lucas and Max's odd on-and-off again relationship one evening in mid-May. That sparked up an interesting conversation which led to El admitting that she pushed Max off her skateboard.

And the boy nearly broke down when she said, "I saw you. With Max. You looked so... happy. With her. I knew you cared about me, still. But, it hurt to see you smile at her like that. You hadn't smiled like that since I last saw you... in real life."

Eleven went on, explaining how she felt bad for being mean to Max now that she knew the redhead wasn't a fan of her freckle-faced dork. "Well, I can tell her that you apologize and want to be her friend?" Mike proposed gently, unclear if that was what she wanted.

To his surprise, El eagerly took the offer. She told him to explain her side of the story to the blue-eyed girl that it was all a misconception and resulted in jealousy-based actions.

So, the next school day, when Lucas ironically approached Mike about trying to ease the weird tension between him and Max, Mike pulled her aside at lunch and apologized.

"I was so lost without her and I took my bottled up sadness out on others by being downright cruel. And I-I'm sorry. I just, like, I've never felt... like that, ya know, with anyone before, and..." he trailed off, smiling bashfully at the thought of the girl who drove him crazy. The girl he loved with his whole heart.

"Mike, it's okay, really. I was in a pretty shitty place then with the move and all and my behavior was just the same. So I'm sorry, too." Being kept away from someone you love for so long hurts so badly and you take it out on others who piss you off. Max knew that. She was the same way.

Once the pair rejoined the three other party members, Max asked Mike if El still hated her guts. He assured her that Eleven didn't hate her, telling him of their conversation the night prior and how it was all a misunderstanding. He added that maybe, if El could join them, they could finally make amends on Sunday at their study session when they'd be preparing for their upcoming final exams.

"Yeah, sure. Sounds good," Max nodded cooly, but on the inside, she was buzzing with excitement. El would finally be the female friend she yearned for.

Now, Max resented all things 'girly.' She stuck around with boys for as long as she could remember, finding girls annoying and bratty. But, beneath that strong dislike, she wanted to have a shoulder to cry on who wasn't Lucas. She wanted someone to make shopping more bearable by putting together ridiculous clothing combinations and trying them on. Someone to sing along with to their favorite songs no matter how terrible they sounded. Someone to laugh with. And definitely someone to talk with about how awful being a teenage girl was.

* * *

Flash forward to the second of June. A hot and sticky afternoon with a thick blanket of clouds hiding the sun.

Michael Wheeler thought the overcast sky was the perfect representation of his mood at that point in time. And it was all because the one thing he had been looking forward to wasn't going to be as enjoyable.

All because El wasn't there.

"I wish I was with you."

Eleven, sadly, wasn't allowed to visit her with friends. The news didn't shock them at all when she said Hopper's answer was no. She begged and pleaded with him to let her go but he refused to change his mind. El even said that she'd give up Eggo's and T.V. for an entire month if he let her, but the burly man never gave in.

"I know, me too, El," Mike sighed into the phone. "I really miss you."

"So do I!" Dustin shouted louder than necessary from his seat at the D&D table, his mouth full of Cocoa Puffs. The boy was drowning in a sea of textbooks, binders, notebooks and various writing utensils—as well as cereal, apparently—and looked utterly exhausted.

"I do, too!" Lucas chimed in to reassure his friend that he didn't go a day without thinking of her. He wasn't studying like he was supposed to be. Instead, he was seated on the couch with his feet on the small table before him and an arm around Max, who was resting her head on his shoulder and reading a comic book. The redhead seemed far from interested in doing what she was there to do and was not worried if she flunked her exams.

Eleven giggled at their uplifting calls, they missed her just as much as she did them. "Tell them I said hi and I miss them more."

Mike gasped dramatically, putting his hand to his heart, "You don't miss me?" He was only messing with her, which he hoped got across to her. She was getting much better at understanding sarcasm and when people were joking, and she was adopting a rather dry sense of humor herself. _Probably because of Hopper_ , Mike assumed.

Will cleared his throat and tapped Mike on the shoulder, snapping his attention from the phone call. He had arrived about an hour late to the Wheeler's house because Joyce had to work and Jonathan was interning at the Hawkins Post with Nancy until 1:30 p.m., resulting in his two o'clock arrival.

"Byers!" Mike exclaimed, nearly forgetting that El was still on the line. He pulled the shorter boy into a hug with the phone still in his left hand. "How was sitting at the Post for hours on end?"

Will huffed in annoyance and retreated from the embrace, "So boring and such a waste of time. I don't get why my mom wouldn't just let me sleep over yesterday so I didn't have to sit there and listen to how awfully those guys treat your sister."

The lanky boy nodded, a solemn look of understanding on his face. He had overheard Nancy rant to Jonathan about how little respect they showed her there, even if she'd only been working on the weekends for not even a month.

Nancy always loved writing. She wanted to tell people the real story, to help people to understand every aspect of it. The elder Wheeler siblings were similar in that way.

But all Nancy got to do at her summer 'job' was make coffee and pick up lunch for the rude employees, and for her boyfriend, who helped her get the position in the first place, of course. She didn't get to pick up any interesting and worth-reading material, interview people, write her own article, or even revise one before it got sent to print.

Something she looked forward to, however, was getting to tutor El starting on the 10th of June. Nancy would visit the cabin every weekday evening after her shift at the post to help prepare El for high school. She was extremely excited to have some bonding time—even though she'd be teaching for most of the two hours—with her brother's girlfriend. The eldest Wheeler absolutely loved the telekinetic girl.

Eleven sat looking at the phone in confusion. _Where did he go?_ He was talking to her and then suddenly his voice got muffled as another voice seemed to have joined him.

"Mike?" She asked, hopefully loud enough for him to hear.

He did hear, nearly jumping out of his skin because he wasn't expecting it, and quickly put the phone to his ear. Will just watched him in amusement with a bright smile, shaking his head. _What a love struck dork,_ he thought bitterly.

It's not like Will had anything against Eleven. God, no. For starters, she saved him from the Upside Down and the Shadow Monster—and he is still so damn grateful for that. Secondly, he barely even knew her, as the only interaction they'd really ever had was after she'd closed the gate and at the Snowball.

But, every day, Will tried to push away that subtle attraction he felt pulling him towards Mike. Not a soul could deny that he was an attractive being, but William Byers found him more than attractive. He found him irresistible.

Not only that, but he was an incredible person. He was the first friend he'd ever had. He stuck with him through it all. He stood up for him, protected him, and cared for him because that's just what Mike did best.

Michael could be hot-headed, stubborn, and moody but he was ten times more loyal, brave, generous and loving.

And he hated himself for it. Gosh, what would people think if they knew how he felt? Obviously, society would call him a slew of hateful things but what would his friends think? What would _Mike_ think?

Only Jonathan knew of his true feelings. Aside from Mike, his brother was the only person he ever felt that he could go to. His mom, well, she was understanding... and extremely overprotective... and he just felt that when he would try to talk to her about his emotions, he failed to get the words out.

"El! Sorry 'bout that," the lanky boy laughed. "Will just got here so I was saying hi to him."

Playfully rolling her eyes, Eleven said, "Okay, cool. Tell him I say hi."

Mike relayed the message to the green-eyed boy and he told her the same thing. Will then dismissed himself and started studying with Dustin as Mike and Eleven continued to talk.

"El, I really wanna keep talking to you," Mike sighed. "But, I really need to study a bit."

"It's okay, Mike," she smiled sadly. Ugh, this whole school thing did not sound so great after all.

She tried to be understanding, though. School was how you learned things and without school you wouldn't know as much and would probably not get a job. A job was necessary to make money to care for yourself and family.

So, she let him go so he would do well, fearing that if he failed his whole life would be even more of a disaster all because of her.

"Just... call me when you're done?"

"Of course I will, El," he murmured.

Both of them remained silent for a beat, not wanting to hang up—for saying 'goodbye' was excruciatingly painful. That simple word reminded them of one of the worst - yet one of the best, too, as they also shared their first kiss then - days of their lives.

"Talk soon, Mike."

"Talk soon, El," Mike stood by the phone after hanging it up, staring off into space. Why couldn't he get to see her? Once a month at least would be enough for him!

He just wanted to be with her, to hold her in his arms. Words weren't necessary, her presence was enough to keep him content. Their simple glances spoke a thousand words.

"You okay there, Mike?" Will asked the dazed boy.

"Hm?" He replied, his brain failing to make sense of what his friend said. Blinking rapidly and shaking his head to snap out of it, he stuttered, "Oh, yeah. Yeah I'm, I'm okay."

"Uh, you sure?" Dustin pestered Mike as he crossed to the table covered in school books and sat down beside him.

The paladin sighed loudly, crossing his arms on the table and letting his head fall into them heavily. "I just miss her," he mumbled.

Tears pooled in his eyes. It wasn't fair. Why was he given an amazing girl but unable to spend time with her?

"We know, Mike," Max interjected from the couch, her tone one of immense annoyance.

"Max," Lucas warned. Sure, Lucas really liked Max, but he refused to let her be rude to his friend about such a touchy subject. He had already told Max the entire story of Mike and Eleven, hoping to get across to her that what they had was ridiculously rare and special, and she seemed to be very understanding. Yet, she would never stop rolling her eyes at the lovesick boy.

And Lucas teased Mike about El, too. That's just how he was, mocking his friends was just a form of endearment—he never really meant the things he said.

But Max was never joking when she would say similar things to Mike. The venom that dripped from her voice was genuine. Lucas just didn't understand why they couldn't at least try to get along for once. For his own sanity and for Dustin and Will's, as well.

"What?" Max snapped, freckled cheeks burning with aggravation. She understood why Mike was sad and why he missed the girl so much, but come on! How does _one_ girl have _that_ great of an impact on him?

The redhead was the type of girl to get bitchy when she didn't understand things, and she was frustrated that she couldn't wrap her head around their connection.

"Come on, Max," Dustin, ever the peace-maker, threw his head back in annoyance. "Just let him alone for once. Please."

The bard grew more insane with every argument that took place between the pair. Dustin was an argumentative person sometimes, but nobody was on the same level as Maxine Mayfield.

Settling disputes was one thing he was great at, and he enjoyed doing it, too, but he wasn't sure how many more fights he could handle between Mike and Max.

"Whatever," she grumbled, chucking her comic on the table and crossing her arms.

"I know, Mike," Will reached across the table, placing his hand on Mike's pale arm. Ignoring the spark he felt when his skin came into contact with his, Will continued to comfort him, "You'll get to see her soon. I'm sure of it."

Lazily lifting his head to meet the green eyes studying him, Mike forced a smile. He wanted to believe Will so badly, but he couldn't. If he got his hopes up all for nothing, his already fractured heart would break down further.

Twenty minutes later, Michael Wheeler would receive news that proved Will's assuring words true.


	2. Thinking ‘Bout You.

Two: _Thinking ‘Bout You.  
  
_“And I been waiting patient, patiently  
‘Cause I don’t have you here with, here with, here with me  
But at least I have the memory”

Date: Sunday, June 2nd, 1985

* * *

About fifteen minutes after Eleven got off the phone with Mike, she heard Hop's secret knock on the front door. Hesitantly opening the locks with her mind, confused and curious as to why Hopper was back so soon, she made her way to the main area of the cozy cabin.  
  
"Hey, kid," he greeted, sounding frazzled. "Go throw on a pair of shoes and get some pajamas, another outfit and your toothbrush and toothpaste together in your bag, okay?"

"O-okay," she stuttered, not expecting this in the slightest bit. Though she was still skeptical of what was going on, she did as told. Something in his tone and the hasty manner in which he gathered some of his own belongings told her to obey his commands without question.

Carrying the clothes, toiletries, and bag in her hands, she sat on the couch to fold the wrinkled materials nicely and place them in the cross-body satchel. "I know you are wondering what's going on," the burly man began, raising his voice a bit from his room so it could carry to where she sat by the television. "But before I can explain, dial the Wheeler's and ask if it's okay for you to go over, even though the other kids will probably be on their ways' home shortly after you arrive."

Eleven swears her heart stopped beating when the words he spoke registered in her brain.

 _I get to leave the cabin? I get to leave_ and _go to see Mike?_

A bright smile overtook the girl's features as she bolted towards the telephone mounted on the wall that she had just recently hung up.

Punching in the numbers that she knew by heart, she impatiently waited for someone, Mike preferably, to pick up on the other side. On the second ring, a familiar raspy voice crackled through the phone, "Hello, this is the Wheeler's. Mike speaking." El giggled at the way his mother instructed him to answer the telephone. She knew that if he was aware it was her on the line, he definitely would have greeted her more casually, but she loved how polite he was; it always made her happy to know she had such a sweet boyfriend.

"Mike!" She exclaimed eagerly, not bothering to introduce herself because she knew he would recognize her voice in a split second.

On the other side of Hawkins, Mike's face screwed up in utter confusion. She knew he had to leave her a few minutes ago to study, so why was she calling again? He wasn't mad, most certainly not, just... puzzled. Trying his best to mask his baffled state, he replied, "Hey, El. What's up?"

"Is it still okay if I come over?" She spoke quickly, seeing that Hopper was almost ready to leave. Mike's eyebrows disappeared beneath his bangs. Had he heard her correctly? Before he could tell her that it was still more than fine for her to join them, she continued, "I'm not sure why. But, I'll explain when I get there... if I can still come over."

Mike stumbled over his words, everything moving way too fast for him to comprehend, "Uh, yeah! Yeah, that's alright, you can still come. I'll uh–I'll see you soon, then?"

"Soon," she smiled, her eyes fluttering shut to bask in the joy surrounding her at the moment. Finally, after 168 days, she was getting to see Mike, and the rest of the party, of course, again. The sound of snapping brought El out of her trance. Looking over to where Hopper was standing by the door, a bag of his own over his shoulder and car keys in his one hand, he tapped his watch to tell her that they had to get going momentarily. She nodded to let him know she understood then proceeded to end the call with Mike, "I have to go, now. I'll see you in a bit."

"See ya," he replied, equally as dazed as the telekinetic on the other side. Eleven hung up the phone, grabbed her bag, stepped out onto the porch and locked the door behind her with the gentle tilt of her head. She climbed into the passenger seat of Hop's cruiser and fastened the seat belt across her body.

Once he was sure she was buckled in, Hopper put his foot on the gas and sped through the wilderness surrounding the secluded cabin. As he drove he explained why he had to take El to the Wheeler's,

"There's a case a few counties away and they, for some reason, not really sure why, requested I help with. I had originally asked Joyce if I could take you to stay with her, because she knows about you and in general I know her a bit better than I do Karen, as do you, but she has to work the night shift at Melvald's and Jonathan won't be home till late. I would have called Karen ahead of time to ask her but I didn't get the chance to because this was all very last minute..."

"Okay, good luck," she turned to face him, offering him a small smile. "And thank you, for taking me. To see Mike. I miss him. A lot."

Taking his eyes off the road that he recently pulled onto for a split second to meet her gaze, he returned the soft smile, "I know you miss him, kid. And I wish I could have taken you to see him more often, but it's still dangerous. I don't want anything to happen to you, and we both know Wheeler—"

"Mike," she corrected with an eye roll, her grin never subsiding.

"Yeah, Mike," he chuckled. "Wouldn't want that, either. But, I've been discussing with Nancy the possibility of her tutoring you after her shifts at the Hawkins Post so you could start school in the fall."

Eleven gasped at the new information. She would get to go to school? With Mike? And Will and Dustin and Lucas, too? "Really?"

"Really, kid," he assured. "And, once summer vacation starts, Mike can visit three times a week. Three. And only he can be here, none of the others; it'd draw too much attention. But, I'll let you go to one of their houses once every couple weeks as long as you guys promise to stay at whoever's house it is, okay? How's that for a compromise?"

Eleven couldn't believe what she was just told. Nodding vehemently, she agreed wholeheartedly. She couldn't wait to tell Mike about all of this.

"I only have two rules for you to obey for this to work, alright?" He waited to see her nodding again in his peripherals before relaying the regulations to her. "The first is that he is only allowed over when I'm home. And I'll agree to let you two be alone in your room if you follow the only other rule - keep the door open three inches."

"Okay," she really didn't care about having to follow the rules; all she cared about was that she was getting to see Mike and that was all that mattered.

"Promise to follow the rules?" His tone joking, yet firm.

"Promise."

* * *

Over at the Wheeler's, Max and the boys were trying to come up with a story behind who El was and how they knew her, since Karen never met the girl. They figured Hopper would make something up when they arrived, but they wanted to create one just in case. Not to avoid studying, or anything. No, not at all. Never.

Mike, however, was nowhere near as absorbed into the scheming. All he could think about was Eleven.

_Is she any taller, now?_

_Does her hair reach her shoulders yet?_

_Will she want to kiss me?_

Damn, did he hope he would get to kiss her. He dreamt about it constantly, longing for the feel of her soft lips on his, even if it lasted just for a moment. Of course, he would make sure she wanted it, too, even though they had been dating since the Snowball. Mike wasn't sure how he would survive if he'd ever made her uncomfortable.

"That's actually the dumbest thing you've ever said," Lucas deadpanned.

"I doubt it," Max muttered, fighting off the grin threatening her chapped lips.

Ignoring the redhead's comment, Dustin protested, "It is not! I think my story is the only one that actually makes sense, thank you."

"Oh, yeah 'cause the chief of police finding El on the side of the road and her, just, agreeing to go with him is normal," Lucas retorted.

"But that is what happened!"

"Hate to break it to you, man," Will piped up, "but, since we'd be cutting out everything else that happened and the fact that El met him before she wound up in the woods, it really is out there.

"How?!" He threw his hands in the air in frustration. He knew he was fighting a losing battle but Dustin Henderson was a persistent boy.

"Uh, I dunno would you just go live with some random man that you've never met? Especially one that's as menacing as Hopper?" Max snarkily replied.

Mike was getting slightly irritated by the constant bickering. Partially because it was distracting him from his daydreaming about El but also because it was just really fucking annoying.

So, he pointed out the major flaw in Dustin's story, "Dustin, he's the chief of police. His job would have been to take her to child services or something, not his grandfather's musty ass cabin in the middle of the woods."

Just as Dustin was about to continue the debate, the sound of the doorbell cut him off.


	3. Sanctuary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this one is super short! I’ll try to have four up soon. Thank you for leaving kudos and for the kind comments, they make my day!

Three: _Sanctuary._

“Pull me oh-so close _  
_ 'Cause you never know  
Just how long our lives will be”

Date: Sunday, June 2nd, 1985

* * *

The sound of the doorbell pulled Karen Wheeler from the stack of dirty dishes and silverware she was cleaning. It’s safe to say that she was not expecting to come face to face with the chief of police, nor the teen accompanying him. Hurriedly wiping the dumbfound look off of her face, she politely greeted Jim and the girl. As to not waste any more time, Jim immediately started to explain who the unfamiliar adolescent was.

  
“Afternoon, Karen. So, before I tell you why I’m here in the first place, let me introduce you to Jane. She’s the daughter of a good friend of mine from Indianapolis. He had asked me to take care of her if anything were to happen to him because his wife died shortly after Jane was born and he doesn’t have a great relationship with his family or his wife’s.”

Karen studied the girl, sending her a sympathetic look. After letting her eyes linger on the teen for a few moments, she redirected her gaze back to Jim, listening intently. “Sadly, he died in a car accident not too long ago, so I’ve been taking care of Jane ever since.”

Mrs. Wheeler felt her heart sink at his words. She couldn’t even imagine how tough it must have been for Jane to experience that. “Well, it is nice to meet you, dear. I wish we could have met under better circumstances.” The woman ushered the pair into her home. Remaining under a cloud of false sadness, El nodded, her eyes glued to her worn-out converse.

As soon as she stepped inside, a tidal wave of nostalgia hit her. Hard. Memories of those six days with Mike played in her head on a continuous loop as she tuned out Hop’s explaining of what they were doing at the Wheeler residence in the first place. Had it really been nearly two years since she was hidden there by the sweet boy with a face full of freckles?

Slowly coming back to reality, Hopper’s voice registered in her ears, but it was extremely muffled. “... by around 7 o’clock tomorrow morning. Is that alright?” Karen responded with something along the lines of, “yes, that’s perfect!” though El wasn’t paying much attention. A few more things were said, but the words went through one ear and out the other.

“Jane!” Eleven nearly jumped out of her skin when her adoptive father snapped his fingers in her face. Chuckling at her reaction, he told her, “I gotta head out, now. Remember our rules, okay?”

“Promise,” she met his stern gaze, telling him that she understood. Jim nodded before dismissing himself to grab El’s overnight bag from the cruiser. As he walked outside, Karen turned to face the young girl.

“My son, Mike, is in the basement with a few friends. Just turn right when you get to the kitchen. It’s the door on your right.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course, dear. Let me know if you need anything.”

El smiled graciously and turned, slowly making her way down the hallway and to the right.

Butterflies flew around in her stomach as she stood staring at the door knob.

_Did Mike get taller?_

_Is his hair the same?_

_Will he want to kiss me?_

She exhaled the breath she didn’t know she was holding. She really hoped he wanted to kiss her. Her hand grasped the knob, but she didn’t turn it.

_Why are you so nervous? It’s just Mike! And Dustin, Lucas, and Will…_

_and Max._

_Stop worrying. Mike said it would be fine._

She opened the door.

Laughter from the basement ceased at the sound of the door opening and closing. All four sets of eyes shot to the tallest member of the party, who had abruptly stood up from his seat on the couch.

Mike’s feet were stuck to the floor, his heart nearly beating out of his chest, his breathing erratic and uneven. His vision grew blurry as the girl, who’s arrival he had been impatiently anticipating, made her way down the steps.

“Mike!” Eleven exclaimed. She ran to the boy and jumped at him, her arms flying around his neck to hug him.

Mike, not expecting the sudden weight, nearly fell backwards onto the couch when El’s body made contact with his. But he kept his balance and held her in his embrace.

He was convinced it was all a dream. His brain was tricking him into believing she was back in his arms. Just like it would every single night. And every time, he’d wake up and realize it was all in his head.

But, this time, it was real. She was there, hugging him. Her chin was resting on his shoulder, leaning her head against his own.

“El,” he said it so softly he wasn’t sure if she even heard. Speaking any louder would have made it apparent he was holding back tears.

It was at that moment that she realized her feet weren’t touching the ground. She gradually loosened her hold on him, and he did the same. Their gazes were everywhere but each other’s face, waiting for the right moment.

El kept her hands on his shoulders and Mike kept his hands on the small of her back. He finally let her feet hit the floor.

Slowly, she tilted her head up and their eyes locked for the first time in one hundred sixty-eight days.


	4. Falling.

Four: _Falling_.  
  
“You keep me in the middle  
You keep me up all night  
You solve my every riddle  
You make it all just fine”  
  
Date: Sunday, June 2nd, 1985

* * *

“Hi,” Mike smiled.

One of the first changes he noticed was that he had to look down at Eleven. No, not _just_ with his eyes. He literally had to tilt his neck down to see her. From where she was standing at that time, at least.  
  
Eleven grinned up at him. She, for some reason that she really didn’t understand, loved the fact that she had to crane her neck to look up at him. The top of her head barely reached his nose.  
  
“Hi,” she said, almost in a whisper. “I missed you.”  
  
“I missed you, too, El.”  
  
Mike’s eyes left hers, scanning the rest of her face. Nothing changed drastically over their months apart.

Her honey irises still had those little green speckles throughout. They were only visible if you _really_ looked for them, though. Her nose was the same—small and very slightly upturned. Her mouth wasn’t any different, either.

But there was something that just made her look… older. More… mature. She still looked fourteen, obviously, but Mike just couldn’t put his finger on what had changed. _Maybe it’s just puberty_ , he thought.

Her hair stopped a little less than an inch above her shoulders. The curls had loosened and were a bit frizzy from the humidity. He noticed that the deep, chestnut shade gradually lightened to luscious caramel at the tips. 

His eyes flickered from her shoulders down to her converse to take everything in. Not wanting to come off creepy, he made sure to keep it quick. But damn it, it was so hard to not let his eyes linger.

Mike scolded himself for allowing his hormones to overrun his brain, but he couldn’t help it. Not with the way she had started to develop such an alluring hourglass shape since he last saw her in December. It was clear that she was bound to be quite curvaceous as she got older.

While Mike scrutinized her, El did the same to him. His dark, raven mop of hair was still messy as ever. And it looked like it was trying to curl at the edges, most likely due to the heat.

Her boyfriend’s body was the same, except much lankier. Maybe there was a _little_ bit more muscle on his biceps and calves. _Maybe_.

His dark, saturnine eyes sparkled like pools of burnt umber. His pupils were dilated as he stared at her. _I wonder why they do that? Do my eyes do that, too?_

His chapped lips remained the same. As did his nose but the amount of freckles dusted across the bridge had multiplied. His face was more structured than it had been. High, prominent cheekbones and a sharp, defined jaw. Eleven loved it.

When she saw him scanning her whole body, El’s breath hitched but she wasn’t sure why. Heat pooled low in her stomach, making her uneasy. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt in her whole life. It was dizzying yet euphoric. Nauseating yet uplifting. But she ignored it.

“Ahem,” Lucas faked an obnoxious cough, pulling the lovers out of their trance. Dustin chuckled at the sight of them, more specifically, Mike. That boy was basically fucking El with his eyes.  
  
“Oh yeah,” Mike said monotonously, his eyes never leaving El’s. “They’re here, too.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean, Wheeler?” Max scoffed with her trademark eye roll.

Mike sighed exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose. _Can’t they take a damn joke?_

Will, surprisingly, broke the awkward silence that had fallen upon the teens, “I’m glad you got to join us today, El.”

For the first time since her arrival, El turned to face Will with a bright, toothy smile on her face. “Me too,” she pulled her eyes from Will and glanced at Dustin and Lucas to let them know she was talking about all of them. And then her eyes landed on Max.

Eleven felt small under the icy glare of the only other female party member. She knew she shouldn’t be intimidated by Max, Eleven _was_ the one with superpowers, but it was impossible _not_ to be.

The telekinetic inhaled sharply, attempting to boost her confidence. She walked over to Max with a spring in her step.

“Hi. I’m sorry for how I treated you. I was jel…” El struggled to pronounce the word. She shook her head and tried again, “I was jealous. I thought you liked Mike an—”

Max laughed obnoxiously, cutting El off. She couldn’t help it. _Eleven really thought that I liked Mike?_

With wide and worried eyes, El looked at Lucas for help. He got the message and lightly slapped Max’s arm to pull her out of her cackling fit. The redhead immediately straightened up and let her eyes fall back on El.

“And when I saw you together in the gym he looked so happy. I felt like you were trying to replace me.”

Max’s eyes widened in alarm, “It’s okay, El. I understand why you felt that way but I can assure you, I never liked him.”

Eleven nodded and put her hand out for Max to shake, “Friends?”

The freckled girl eyed her hand skeptically. After a moment, she clasped El’s much smaller hand in her own.

“Friends.”

Mike and Lucas exhaled in relief. Finally, the air was clear between their girlfriends and hopefully it would stay that way. Max rolled her eyes at them as Eleven went to give each of the boys a hug. She had been too absorbed with Mike to have done so when she arrived.

First, she turned to Lucas, as he was standing beside Max. As he embraced her, he asked, “What did you do most days while the Chief was at work?”

“Watched soaps,” she replied bluntly, pulling away from him.

“You watched soap operas?” Lucas was shocked. _How on earth did Hopper allow that? Has he seen what happens in some of those shows?_

“Yes, they’re…” she failed to find the word she wanted to use. So, she stuck with, “they’re cool.”

“Uh huh,” he smirked. His brain figured her silence was because she was embarrassed about something she had seen in an episode. Something… _sexual_. Little did he know that he was extremely far off.

Then, she went to Dustin and immediately noticed that something was different. “What?” He asked, chuckling at her bewildered expression.

“Where are your teeth?”

“Oh, ya see, I have this disorder called cleidocranial dysplasia,” he explained. “Basically, it slows down my bone growth.”

She nodded slowly, processing his words carefully. The curly haired boy engulfed the girl in a quick hug. “Your hair looks nice, by the way,” he complimented as he released her much smaller form.

El smiled at him, “Thank you.”

Lastly, she went to Will. She hugged him right away. El never told Mike, but she was constantly worrying about Will. She felt some sort of connection with him, having had experienced the horrors of the Upside Down firsthand, as well.

The whole reason the poor boy had suffered such terrifying things was all because of her. _She_ was responsible for his trauma. Guilt constantly nipped at her; it was _her_ fault he would never be the same.

The shortest of the four boys returned the hug, caught off guard by her forwardness. As she pulled back, she kept her hands on his shoulders and locked her eyes with his. “Are you okay?”

Will smiled gently but his brow furrowed in confusion, “Yeah, I’m okay.”

El sensed his uncertainty. Internally cursing herself for misspeaking she tried again, “I meant… have you been okay? Like, no bad dreams?”

 _Of course that’s what she meant, dipshit_ , Will mentally face-palmed. Red rose onto his cheeks and he bowed his head to try to hide his obvious mortification. “Oh, uhm… sometimes. But I don’t have those flashes to… it… anymore so that’s good. What about you?”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Only some nights.”

Mike stood to the side and watched the interaction between his girlfriend and best friend. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t jealous that Will was getting so much attention. But, he forced that negativity away. Eleven only had eyes for him, she was just being a good friend to Will.

“Mike!” Karen’s voice shouted suddenly from upstairs, startling Dustin who had been sitting on the bottom step.

“Jesus,” he gasped, putting his hand over his heart.

“What, Mom?” Mike yelled back, his voice cracking a bit. Lucas bit back a laugh, causing the lanky boy to slap his shoulder.

“I’m heading to the mall to get Holly some new shoes. Nancy’s in her room if you need anything,” she said through the door.

“Okay!”

“Love you. Behave!”

“Bye, love you!”

Right when they heard the door that connected the kitchen and garage slam shut, Dustin bolted up the stairs.

“Where are you going?” El asked. She got there only ten or so minutes ago, why was he leaving already? He stopped on the seventh stair and turned to face her.

“To get food,” he shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing ever. Turning around, he bolted up the remaining steps and into the Wheeler’s kitchen.

“But Dustin, you already took the—” Mike called after him, but the curly haired boy was already gone. Helplessly, his arm that had been gesturing towards the D&D table fell to his side. “... Cocoa Puffs.”

“I’ll put ‘em away, Mike,” Lucas offered, taking the box in his hand. “Shit, did he eat the whole box?”

“I swear, if he— ”

Max snatched the cardboard from her boyfriend’s hold. Her eyes widened as she pulled out the empty bag, “He did.”

“Oh my God,” Will laughed. He had only helped himself to a handful. He always feared he would take too much and then he’d feel guilty. Limiting himself was always the better option.

“For fuck’s sake,” Mike pinched the bridge of his nose.

Eleven watched Mike as his frustration boiled. She would be _pissed_ if someone ate all of her Eggos. Correction - if someone ate _any_ of her Eggos.

Seeing Mike annoyed was not something El liked. She gently rested her hand on his shoulder, hoping it would comfort him. His eyes shot open, his hand slowly falling away from his face and pivoted his head to look at his girlfriend.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course,” he forced a smile, but it was more of a wince.

“Mike,” El read him like an open book. He was lying. “Friends don’t lie.”

 _Are you really that damn obvious?_ He sighed in defeat, “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just getting old. He is _always_ eating and then I—”

“Oh my God, Mike,” Max groaned. _Why does every little thing tick him off so much?_ “It’s literally cereal. You’re flipping out over _cereal_.”

“I am not!” Mike protested. “He’s just always eating something. And I was _trying_ to explain that those were Holly’s, I wouldn't have cared if they were mine. But now, Holly will complain about it to my mom and I’m gonna get the blame because he’s _my_ friend!”

“Oh no, poor little Michael is gonna be in trouble.”

“Seriously, Max?” Mike glared at the redhead. _Does she have a mute button?_

“Seriously, Mike?” Max mocked, stepping closer to him.

“Ooooo-kaaaay, Max,” Lucas grabbed her shoulders and steered her towards the stairs. He mouthed ‘sorry’ to Mike before climbing the stairs behind his fuming girlfriend. Will followed the couple, sending Mike and El a nervous and apologetic grin over his shoulder.

Eleven had moved from Mike’s side, using him as a shield during Max’s rant. She was quite shaken by the venom dripping from her voice and the fire raging in her eyes. It didn’t make sense to her as to why Max was being mean to Mike at all. He didn’t even acknowledge her, yet she felt the urge to criticize him.

Mike unclenched his fist, grimacing at the pain that his nails caused to his palm. Man, did that girl know how to push his buttons. His eyes fluttered open and he found that El wasn’t next to him anymore. “El?”

“Yes?”

“Oh! I didn’t know where you went,” he spun around to see her. “Why were you behind me?”

”She was scary,” El shyly admitted, bowing her head towards the floor.

“El, look at me,” he said sternly. When she refused, he brought his pointer finger under her chin, tilting her head up to meet his eyes.

“She just does that to annoy me. Somehow, making people mad is fun for her. Yeah, I don’t know why, either,” he chuckled lightly at her puzzled face. “The best thing to do when she does that is ignore her. Which I didn’t do this time so it encouraged her to keep pushing.”

“People are… weird,” El said, her face void of expression, her honey orbs locked with Mike’s chocolate ones.

The grin on Mike’s face grew wider. He glided his finger away from her chin, across her jawline, and to a loose curl framing her face. He tucked the strand behind her ear and cradled her jaw in his hand, his thumb resting on her cheek.

“Yeah, they really are, Eleven.”


	5. Electric Love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, welcome back to my story! Thank you for reading and I hope you are enjoying it so far.
> 
> I'd just like to say that since starting this fic, I've realized that these first chapters have literally nothing to do with the plot I ended up going with. Obviously, the story connects and all goes together, but the first handful of chapters are basically like a series of connected oneshots and would probably be better off as a separate thing of "missing moments." As I've mentioned before, this was my first attempt at writing, and I've picked up loads of useful tips, like, not writing entire chapters that don't even go with the plot.
> 
> In my defense, I really just wanted to write a fic with some moments inspired by actual events in my life and didn't really have a plot in place before starting and I had no idea what else to do with everything I had already put out so THEN I came up with a plot. Yeah, I don't recommend doing that.
> 
> I just want to acknowledge that I am aware of the information above. It probably would have been wise to just start this fic over, but I have spent months and months tweaking everything and I feel like it would be like throwing all of that work away (even though, realistically, it's not because I still have everything in google docs, haha).
> 
> Despite all of what I said above, I hope you continue to read my story. I have been in a really dark place since November and a few days ago I finally snapped and broke down. Long story short, my mom is trying to find a therapist for me. Anyways, after talking to someone about everything bothering me, I have gained motivation to continue working on editing these chapters and wrapping up the rest of the story. I'm going to try to get out as many chapters as I can as fast as I can because it's been a while since I uploaded.
> 
> Reminder: this fic is rated T for a reason. If anyone thinks the rating needs changed to M please tell me! I personally don't think it does, but I am also oddly comfortable talking about things of a sexual nature (well, with people my age, at least). There’s no smut or anything, just discussions/mentions/general teenage curiosity.

Five: _Electric Love._

"She's sweet like candy in my veins  
Baby, I'm dying for another taste"

Date: Sunday, June 2nd, 1985

* * *

"Hey, lovebirds!" Dustin shouted from the top step of the basement staircase.

Mike and Eleven continued to get lost in one another's eyes. If someone else were in the room with them, they'd think they were frozen. Neither of them even flinched when Dustin's voice travelled down the stairs.

"Yeah?" Mike called back, still in his own world with Eleven.

"Nancy told us to bring El upstairs. She wants to ask her something."

"Okay, one minute!"

El giggled at how their eye contact never broke the entire time Mike was shouting back and forth with Dustin.

The lanky boy smiled down at her, the day couldn't get any better for him. Finally getting to spend some time with his sweet, gentle, beautiful telekinetic girlfriend made him the happiest dork on the planet.

Her eyes left his for just a moment. They flicked down to his mouth then right back to the dark pools of rich chocolate. It was difficult to restrain herself from looking down again.

His lips were so eye-catching that it was nearly impossible for Eleven to pull her eyes away from them. It must have been the way the red fullness contrasted with his smooth ivory skin, like the most delectable strawberries served with the richest vanilla pudding. They appeared chapped but not enough so that she second guessed wanting to kiss him. Eleven was desperate to determine if Mike tasted as sweet as she remembers.

Mike wasn't oblivious to the fact that El was staring at his mouth. His heart was beating out of his chest, anticipating what would happen next.

 _'When someone looks at your lips doesn't that usually mean they want to kiss you? Is she waiting for me to make a move?'_ Thoughts and speculations swirled around his brain rapidly. ' _Wait, what if she doesn't want you to kiss her? Oh my God, that would be so embarrassing...'_

"Mike?"

"Yeah?" Mike was shocked at how calm he sounded. Calm was the polar opposite of how he felt.

"Can… Can you kiss me? Please?" She tentatively asked, the hope clear in her wavering voice.

 _'Hell yeah I will_ ,' he mused. His confident side that normally remained hidden was ready to shine for once.

The raven-haired boy slid his right hand that was already cupping her jaw back to cradle her head, his fingers tangling with her frizzy hair. He relocated his left from his side to El's waist, pulling her body to his.

El was surprised by his boldness. That weird heat she felt not too long ago back once again. Burning, bubbling, weakening, craving, and dizzying.

It started deep down in her lower abdomen, barely noticeable. But as soon as Mike pulled her body completely against his, the overwhelming sensations flared up.

She placed one hand around the back of his neck and tangled the other into his hair. Then, Mike leaned down slightly, tilting El's head back with his hand. His eyes fluttered shut, she copied his actions and inhaled sharply.

And for the fourth time ever, their lips met in an intoxicating kiss. Full of passion and fueled by love. It started just like the kiss at the Snowball, with his top lip between both of El's, but this time Mike did something different.

All of the electricity pulsing through his veins made Mike's mind fuzzy. Lust was taking control of him and there was nothing he could do to stop it. If he was thinking straight he would have told himself to pull away after about ten seconds. But he wasn't.

He did something entirely different.

He deepened the kiss.

Eleven would be lying if she said she was expecting it. She was so shocked when his mouth moved on hers. He pulled away ever so slightly and then came right back in, his upper lip between both of hers, barley sucking at her bottom lip.

After he did it two times, El figured she should maybe do the same thing. So, she did.

That's when the alarms went off in Mike's head. ' _Holy shit, control your damn hormones! What if she didn't want to do that? Oh my God, you're such an idiot.'_

Carefully and slowly, Mike leaned out of the lip-lock, his hand that was holding her head creeping back to her jaw. El took the hint and did the same. Their foreheads rested against each other's, eyes remained shut, breathing heavily.

"Mike," El whispered, her lips brushing his as she did so. "That was…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Mike said, "I know, I was so stupid and I'm really sorry. I was too caught up and didn't think to—"

"Mike!" Eleven pushed his shoulders back so he could look at her. "I… Liked it."

"You did?" His jaw dropped, he wasn't expecting that reaction whatsoever.

"Yes, I did," she nodded, smiling lovingly up at him. Reaching down, she took his hand and intertwined their fingers. "C'mon, lets go talk to Nancy."

* * *

"El!"

"Hi, Nancy," Eleven greeted, running into the older girl's open arms.

"How have you been?" Nancy asked as she released El from the embrace. El followed Nancy into her room and sat cross-legged beside her on the bed.

"Good. What about you?"

"That's great! I've been fine, too. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about our tutoring sessions."

Mike, who had been in his room with the other four party members, bolted into his sister's room as soon as he heard that. ' _Has she been helping El with school stuff and never told me?'_

"Tutoring sessions?"

"Jesus, Mike," Nancy grumbled. "Can't you find something else to do for five minutes?"

"Well, maybe if you weren't hiding the fact tha—"

"Oh my God, Mike, we weren't hiding anything! I start tutoring El next week! I literally just confirmed it with Hopper this morning, it wasn't set in stone beforehand and I didn't want you to get your hopes up if I told you but then we couldn't figure out a schedule that worked. Now, go away. I'll send her to you when we're done."

Eleven just sat with wide eyes. It was interesting to see how the siblings interacted with one another. She watched as Mike rolled his eyes at Nancy and stomped back into his room. ' _Oh, please don't be mad at me, Mike.'_

"Sorry about that," Nancy laughed awkwardly. "Anyways, I was trying to ask if there were any subjects that confused you more than others so that way I can get extra material for us to work with."

The telekinetic pondered the question. After a moment, she told her, "English."

"Alright, that's all then?" El nodded, so Nancy asked her next question. "Do you still want me to help with your handwriting? Hopper said that you get frustrated when you have to write a lot, especially if you try to do it fast."

"Yes, please," El was so happy that she was starting to become a normal girl. ' _Oh, that reminds me_ ,' she thought. "Nancy?"

"Mhm?"

"There's one other thing Hop told me to ask you about."

"Okay, what is it?"

"He said, 'Ask Nancy if she would teach you about teenage stuff. But not _just_ the stuff they teach in school. The important shit,'" El relayed the message, stuttering a few times and imitating his voice the best she could.

Nancy's eyebrows shot up under her newly cut bangs. She knew that Hopper didn't mean 'teach El about the endocrine system and all the symptoms of every STD out there.'

She very well knew that he meant 'teach El about puberty and its effects, sex, urges that she'll likely develop and how to surpress them, boundaries, and consent.'

 _'Dear Lord, help me now_ ,' she mentally pleaded.

It's not that she didn't want to teach El about those things, she really didn't mind that at all. Yes, it would be awkward but that's a given.

It's the fact that El's dating her brother and she'd be telling her about all of these things. About all the things that they could do together as they get older. Oh, how that made her want to crawl in a ditch and die.

"Nancy?" The eldest Wheeler sibling snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her name being spoken. "Are you okay?"

She chuckled at how scared Eleven looked, her eyes wide and full of concern. "Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry. Yeah, uhm, let him know that I'll do that," she smiled weakly. "Okay, Mike is probably going to kill me if I hold you any longer so go on. I'll be up here if you guys need anything."

"Thank you, Nancy," Eleven said, climbing off the mattress. Sending Nancy one last smile over her shoulder, she exited her room and went into Mike's.

"Finally!" Mike all but shouted, eagerly wrapping his girlfriend in his arms. Releasing her from his hold, he stood on her left with his hand resting on her right hip bone.

The positive reaction El had to the mini-makeout influenced his bold actions. He kissed her cheek and proceeded to rest his head on hers. "She was keeping you away for too long."

As soon as Mike placed his hand on her hip, that tingly sensation developed in her core, stronger than ever. Her knees threatened to give out and she had the urge to kiss him senseless. She wished she knew why.

"Mike, it was literally three minutes and twenty-two seconds. I counted." Dustin was always ready to make Mike look like the needy, lovesick fool that he was.

"That is just sad," Lucas piped up from his place on the ground, shaking his head while Max buried her head in his shoulder in an attempt to conceal her laughter. Even Will was snickering from his seat beside Dustin on Mike's bed.

"You guys are so mean to me," Mike mumbled.

"Get over it," Max teased.

"Hey, El," Dustin suddenly piped up.

"Yes?"

"What made Hopper change his mind?"

"Oh," she blinked, trying to find the right words to use. "He has something for work. It's not very far away but the case is… complicated, so he might have to stay there for the night."

"Wait, you're sleeping over?" Mike asked ecstatically. ' _This is the best day of my fucking life!'_

"At your _boyfriend's_ house?" Will clarified, utterly shocked by this information.

"This was _Hopper's_ idea?" Lucas interrogated.

"Mike's mom okayed this?" Max questioned incredulously.

"Guys!" Dustin shouted over his friends overlapping voices. "Let her finish her explanation."

They all turned to El with apologetic eyes, urging her to continue.

"So, he took me here because your mom," she glanced at Will, "has to work late. And Jonathan wasn't home to answer the phone and you're here. He told Mrs. Wheeler the situation and made up a story for who I am. He told her that I'm the daughter of one of his friends from Ind-Indianapolis but he died so Hopper had to take care of me. He said that my "mom" died when I was little."

It took Eleven a couple minutes to complete the story, but she managed by stumbling over and breaking up her words at certain points.

"Oh, makes sense," Lucas shrugged.

"Can we watch a movie until we have to go?" Max asked out of the blue, sensing that there was nothing more to add to that conversation.

"Sure, we studied enough," Mike said. Well, Dustin and Will were probably all set for their tests, but he personally knew he wasn't. He wasn't worried, though, the first two exams weren't until Tuesday, so he still had the next day to review.

"Alright, let's go, then," Dustin stood up, exiting the room and heading for the basement. Will, Lucas, and Max followed closely behind him.

Eleven went to follow them, but Mike snagged her wrist before she could leave. "Mike, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong," he spoke softly, admiring the girl standing before him. "I just wanted to say that I'm really happy you're getting to sleepover tonight."

El blushed, smiling widely up at the lanky boy. He was so sweet and loving, she was so lucky. "I'm happy, too," she admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on her toes.

Mike snaked his arms around her waist, returning the hug. They remained in one another's arms for a few moments, hearts full of happiness and love.

* * *

"Can we watch _A Nightmare on Elm Street_?" Max asked as they made themselves comfortable in the Wheeler's basement. She sat in the armchair by the T.V. and adjusted it so she could see the screen better. "It's literally not even scary," she tried to convince them.

"No, Max," Mike was not about to force El, or Will for that matter, sit through that movie. He hadn't seen it but Nancy told him how grotesque and horrifying it was.

"Come onnnnn, Mike. Lighten up."

"Max, I don't know. Steve said it's really gory and I would rather keep my food down, thank you," Dustin voiced from the D&D table, packing his school things in his bag.

"Stalker, El, Will? A little help?" The redhead looked to all three of them for assistance.

Lucas, who had been facing the T.V. leaning against one of Max's legs, rotated his head to look up at her. "I don't really care," he shrugged. But deep down he really did not want to see the mass amounts of blood pouring from Freddy's victims, even if it was fake.

She turned to Will, who was also busy gathering his belongings. He sensed her glaring at him and shyly admitted, "I don't think that would end well for me."

Max's eyes fell on the only party member remaining. The girl was resting her head on the shoulder of her lanky boyfriend with her legs tucked beneath her. Pulling about an inch or two away to look up at Mike, she murmured, "I don't like nightmares."

Mike couldn't hold back the laugh forming in his throat. The worried expression on Eleven's face on top of the way she said that she didn't like nightmares was simply too pure for the cruel world they lived in. "Me either, El," he wrapped his right arm around her slender shoulders and pulled her closer to his side.

Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Will all sat looking at each other, utterly confused, waiting for an answer from the couple.

"Pssst, Mike," Dustin stage whispered. Once Mike's attention was on the curly headed boy, he continued with his exaggerated whispering, "What did she say?"

"Oh, she said no," he relayed the information as though it were completely obvious.

"Hah!" Dustin pointed his index finger in Max's face then spun around to face the host again. "What about _Gremlins_?"

He shrugged, "I'm fine with that. El?"

"What's _Gremlins_?"

"You'll see if we choose that movie."

"Okay. I want to watch it," she smiled, eager to find out what on earth it was.

Max, though it was begrudgingly, Lucas, and Will agreed as well so Mike set up the T.V. with the somewhat new tape and pressed play. Right after he snuggled back up with his girlfriend he realized that the room was still bright. He threw his head back in annoyance, "Shit, I forgot to turn off the lights."

"I got it," El assured with a small tilt of her head.

The room was engulfed with darkness, the only source of light came from the small television. "I forgot you could do that," he chuckled, lifting his hand to tuck his girlfriend's uncooperative curl behind her ear.

Everyone else melted away from existence. The world stopped rotating on its axis. Time came to a complete halt. Just for a moment.

Just for a moment, Mike and Eleven were the only people on the planet.

Just for a moment, everything was perfect. No lab, no Upside Down, no demogorgons or demodogs, no Mind Flayer, no torturous days apart, no hiding. None of the horrific things that the couple endured ever happened.

And for that moment, Eleven continued basking in the comfort Mike provided. His right hand gently cupping her jaw, transferring his body heat to her soft skin. His dusky eyes reflecting the minimal light from the television, sparkling softly as he got lost in her eyes.

"Eleven?" He tentatively asked, lowering his voice, not wanting to draw any attention.

"Yes?"

"I-I'm happy you're home," his eyes were glazed over.

When he spoke the same words he said to her, the same words he said right before they almost kissed, tears immediately fell from her eyes.

Bittersweet was the only word she could use to describe how she felt.

It was such a weird feeling. All of the pain she had endured for the first twelve or thirteen years of her life was taken away when she met him. When she was with him for those six days, everything felt alright. Everything was okay, as long as Mike was there with her.

But then she was ripped away from him. Locked up in a cabin, even if it was for her own safety. Sure, she felt safe there, to a point, but nobody ever protected her the way Mike did. Mike was her safe place. Nothing would ever change that.

It was the same way she felt when he finally saw her in real life for the first time in 358 days. His face said it all.

First: shock. Second: disbelief. Third: realization. Fourth: relief.

Even then, as their eyes remained transfixed on one another's, the happiness was tainted with sorrow.

"Me too," she choked out, gliding her hand up to his jaw.

They leaned in slowly, meeting in the middle in a quick, delicate kiss. Once it was broken, El rested her head on Mike's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his torso.

Sitting in silence and watching the movie unfold while cuddled up with Mike was something Eleven only dreamt of. It was so much more relaxing than she'd been expecting. Everything was so… tranquil. For once in her life she felt at ease.

That is, until Mike moved his hand ever so slightly.

His palm was resting on her knee. El didn't mind, she found it comforting. She didn't mind when he nonchalantly slid it higher, either. Pressure built up in her gut, burning and bubbling furiously when his hand had reached her mid-thigh. Her breath caught in her throat.

"El?" Mike whispered, his voice was raspier than usual, but it was a subtle change.

"Yes?"

"Is this okay?" He nodded towards where his hand was splayed on her leg.

"Mhm," her heart was beating out of her chest. _Ugh, why do I feel like this?_ Something within her told her that she wanted his hand even higher. So, she did as her instincts persuaded.

It was Mike's turn to let his breath hitch. His hand was further up on her thigh than he had planned on letting it go, not that he cared at all. In fact, he enjoyed it. The heat radiating from her skin through her jeans was tantalizing. Oh, how he wished she would have worn shorts instead.

_'Jesus, Mike, calm down. She probably doesn't even understand what's going on right now. Just let her lead you.'_

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you move it higher?"

_Holy shit._

If he moved his hand any higher, his fingers would literally be touching the zipper of her jeans. He wanted to, so badly, but he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself. Hell, he wasn't able to control himself right then, either. The teen boy was no stranger to the pressure building up between his legs, silently begging for it to go away and for El not to notice.

"I don't think that's a good idea with everyone here."

Hurt filled her eyes and he felt her try to pull away, but he stopped her. Leaning in closer to her ear and whispering,

"We can do more some other time, sometime soon. Okay?"

Eleven's mind was swimming, too many uncharted feelings coming at her at once. Why was Mike making her feel these things? It was like anticipating something, she could tell whatever this good sensation was wasn't at the height it could reach yet. But she didn't know why or what it meant!

 _'Maybe, when we're alone, he'll tell me_.'

"Okay."


	6. Talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter that takes place on this date! Then, things FINALLY start to get moving towards my decided plot.  
> Hope you are enjoying this fic and happy late four year anniversary to Stranger Things!  
> 

Chapter Six: _Talk._

"I've never felt like this before  
I apologize if I'm movin' too far  
Can't we just talk?"

Date: Sunday, June 2nd, 1985.

* * *

"Bye guys!" Mike called, waving as his friends biked to their respective homes. As soon as the closing credits of _Gremlins_ began rolling, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max were on their way, leaving Mike alone with Eleven. The couple loved hanging out with their friends, but they were eager to finally have some time to themselves.

"Okay, now what do you wanna do, El?" Mike asked as he locked the front door.

"Can we talk?" Eleven appeared nervous, it was obvious when she was. Whenever she was anxious her eyes would double in size or look in another direction and she'd nibble on her bottom lip.

"Yeah, of course, El. You can ask me anything," Mike reassured, taking her hand in his, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Can we go to your room?"

It was a not-so innocent question coming from an extremely innocent adolescent. She probably had no idea what that question could imply, but Mike didn't say anything about it. Instead, he nodded, turned on his heel, and they climbed the stairs hand in hand.

"Sooo, what do you need to talk to me about?" He asked, closing the door behind him. El made herself comfortable on his bed, crossing her legs and sitting with her back to the headboard. Mike sat across from her, mimicking her position.

"I feel funny," she stated, voice wavering in uncertainty.

Mike immediately grew worried, leaning forward and taking her hands in his once again, "Like… a bad funny? Like nauseous?"

"No. It's kind of… nice, but… it's weird. Like something is going to happen."

"Like butterflies, kind of?" Mike suggested. Many assumptions were circulating around his brain but there was one he was leaning towards most.

Explaining things to El was always something Mike was eager and more than willing to do. However, if she was asking about being turned on like he was suspecting, he didn't think he'd be able to do it.

El nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! Sort of. But… stronger."

"Well, when did you start feeling it? Do you feel it now?"

Eleven's brow furrowed, her teeth sinking into her lower lip, deep in thought. _When did I start feeling this? Oh! That's right!_

"When I got here, after we hugged. Then again when it was just us… downstairs. And when we kissed. And when you put your hand here," she adjusted her hand in his to drag it to her hip. "And here," she guided his hand to her thigh.

Mike's eyes were as wide as saucers, _holy shit, she's definitely talking about being turned on._

"Uhm, okay…" Mike couldn't pull his attention away from where she had placed his hand. Her skin was on fire, burning through the thick denim against his palm. It was driving him crazy.

Eleven was entranced by the way his skin was delicately resting over her jeans. It made that pressure in her lower abdomen even greater. But she needed to know what it was, she couldn't take being kept in the dark any longer.

"Mike?"

The freckled boy snapped out of his stupor, dark orbs darting up to his girlfriend's curious honey ones, "Hm?"

"Can you tell me what it is now? Please?"

"Uh…" bright red painted his cheeks and the tips of his ears, suddenly incapable of maintaining eye contact with the confused girl. Retracting his hand from her thigh, Mike sighed, "Listen, El, I really wanna tell you, I do. But, it's… complicated."

El frowned, tilting her head in concern. The last time Mike got like this was before he kissed her, when he asked her to the Snowball back in '83. She didn't understand why he was so cagey and awkward about it until later on, though.

Just then, Eleven remembered how odd Nancy was acting when she had told the eldest Wheeler sibling about how Hop requested she teach El about 'teenage things.' She was acting the same way Mike was - averted eyes, blushing furiously, stumbling over words, fidgeting.

"Is it… teenage stuff?" She went out on a limb, hoping that maybe, just maybe, she'd connected the dots correctly.

Mike looked back up at her immediately, mouth agape. _How the hell did she know that?_ "Uh, yeah, actually. How… how did you… ?"

Giggling at the expression he wore she explained, pausing at points to find the proper words, "When I was talking to Nancy. About tutoring. She was acting funny, like you just were, when I said that Hop told me to ask her to teach me about 'teenage things.' But, not just the stuff at school."

"Oh," Mike was dumbfounded. _Dear God, Nancy's gonna have to give El 'the talk?' Well, clearly Hopper wouldn't so…_

"So?" Eleven didn't want to be annoying, but she was also growing impatient. _Why won't he just tell me?_

The frustration and utter confusion in her eyes softened Mike up a bit. He would be mad if someone was avoiding telling him something he'd been dying to know, too. _C'mon just get it over with._

"Okay," he exhaled heavily, squeezing his eyes shut in preparation. Finally finding the confidence to meet her stare, he began explaining.

"This thing you're feeling… it's called being turned on. Well, that's the slang term for it. The proper word is… uh… aroused, but nobody really uses that word much."

Taking notes mentally as he spoke, El raised her eyebrows when Mike paused, urging him to continue.

"It means that you wanna do more than just… kiss someone. You wanna… ya know? You wanna, like, touch them, I guess, and uh when you do that, it helps get rid of that tension."

Eleven eyed him skeptically. She reached out and placed her hand on Mike's shoulder. She frowned further, "This isn't helping."

Mike snorted, unable to hold it back. She was so innocent and pure, it was adorable. "Oh, El not like that," he smiled, absolutely smitten.

"Then how, Mike?" She all but whined. "Please tell me. Or show me. Just, something!"

_Show her?!_

_Calm down, you suck at explaining shit so you can't expect her to know what you meant._

"I'm going to try my best to tell you what I mean. If you don't get something, stop me before I keep going. Okay?"

"Okay."

"First of all, you should only do these things with someone you're in a relationship with. Like, a boyfriend or girlfriend or husband or wife. Okay?" She nodded, telling him to continue. "So, like I said, when someone is turned on, they want to do more than kiss someone or touch them. But, in order to get rid of the tension, there's certain ways and specific places you would touch them."

"I understand, Mike. But, which places?"

Mike pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think of how on earth to respond to that without confusing her further. _Why is this so difficult? Spit it out!_

"Places that only _you_ yourself see, y'know what I'm talking about? I'll explain why in a second…"

Eleven's face flushed, that was not what she was expecting to hear. In the soaps she had seen, people in a relationship seemed to do what Mike was referring to. It was awkward to watch those scenes, especially because she didn't really understand what was happening. But, she nodded, mentally preparing herself for the explanation.

"Alright, so if you touch someone there in a certain way or, like, _do_ certain things to that part, it doesn't just get rid of the tension, but it feels good. Like, really, _really_ good. It's almost better than kissing."

_Almost? Now she's gonna think you hate kissing her!_

"Almost better than kissing?" El didn't think anything _could_ get better than kissing.

_Wait, he said you only do those things with a girlfriend or boyfriend… but I'm his girlfriend. You can't have two girlfriends!_

_No, you know Mike would never do that to you._

_Then how does he know?_

"How do you know that?" She had to ask. It was driving her insane and only a few seconds had passed.

 _Shit_.

"Uh, well, ya see…" he trailed off, nervously glancing up. When he saw the hurt look in her eyes, Mike knew she'd looked too far into what he'd said. El had taken it the wrong way, but could he really blame her? She was new to all of this stuff, she doesn't know what masturbation is, so obviously her mind went to cheating.

_Oh no, El I would never cheat on you!_

"No, it's not what you're thinking, I swear!" He quickly assured her, taking her soft hands in his sweaty ones. "I would never do that to you, El. You're the only girl I want. You're the only girl I'll ever want. Understand?"

"I understand," she relaxed, smiling bashfully at the sweet boy across from her.

"So basically, the reason I know that is because if someone is… ya know, turned on, but they're alone, they can do what their partner would do to them to themselves."

Eleven took in Mike's words, slowly processing them and making them make sense to her. She realized that he didn't tell her what things were called, though. _These things have to have a name for them, don't they?_

"What's it called?"

"Which thing?" He chuckled nervously, his one hand pulling from El's to rub the back of his neck, a habit he had recently picked up.

Eleven contemplated that for a moment. Then she decided on, "When you do those things to yourself."

"Oh, that, um… that's called masturbation."

_Wow, you didn't stutter that time! Good job!_

El repeated the word a few times, sounding it out, breaking it down into syllables, and putting it back together. "Okay. Thank you, Mike."

"For what?"

"Telling me things."

"Of course, El. But, one last thing. Do not tell Hopper about any of this conversation. Please. He will probably kill me."

"I won't. I wouldn't let him kill you, though," she smirked.

"I know you wouldn't."

* * *

Some time had passed after Mike and El finished the conversation that they had started around 4:30 that afternoon. At some point, Mrs. Wheeler and Holly had arrived back at home and started cooking dinner, but neither of them thought about it too much. They were far too absorbed with each other to care.

It was nearing 7 o'clock p.m. when El realized that there was one other question she forgot to ask Mike earlier. So, she called his attention away from his school books that he was reorganizing.

"Hm?" He replied, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"How old should we be to do those things we were talking about?"

"Hold on," he mumbled, caught off guard by the question. He finished shoving the last of his books into his backpack and retreated to his bed, lying on his stomach beside his girlfriend. "How old should we be to do things other than kiss?" He wanted to make sure he understood what she was asking him fully.

"Mhm," she rolled onto her side to face Mike, propping herself up on her elbow.

"Well, that depends," he shrugged, resting his chin in his hands. "Some people start doing that stuff when they're teenagers, like sixteen or so, but other people say you should wait for marriage."

"What do you think?"

Mike thought about her question for a moment. What _did_ he think?

"Well, I think if someone can't really see themselves with anyone else and they think that they're going to last, then it's fine. But if they can't really see a future with that person, I don't agree with it. It's supposed to be something special between two people. Something between them only. But, people can misjudge. Maybe they thought they'd last but they don't. It's not their fault, they can't see the future, so how were they supposed to know that person wasn't the one? It's all just a bunch of "ifs"."

"Cool," El smiled.

Mike reciprocated the action, getting lost in the depths of her honey pools while El found herself melting from the way he looked at her. The love he felt for her was obvious, his gentle eyes ensuring her that he would do anything for her. Making sure that she knew she meant the world to him.


	7. Mine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for the long wait. My life has been a bit hectic and I never had any motivation to edit and post anything. I’m going through and editing as many chapters as I can right now so I can hopefully upload them more regularly once school starts.  
> Please leave a comment if you enjoy this chapter! Those motivate me to upload faster so it would be for your benefit:)

Seven: _Mine._

“Girl, I lose myself up in those eyes  
I just had to let you know you're mine  
Hands on your body, I don't wanna waste no time  
Feels like forever even if forever's tonight  
Just lay with me, waste this night away with me  
You're mine, I can't look away”  
  
Date: Sunday, June 2nd, 1985

* * *

After El had dinner with the entire Wheeler family, Karen gave her two choices for where she could sleep that night. “You could take the guest room or you could have the couch in the basement,” she told the girl as she began to gather the dirty plates and silverware from the table.

Eleven didn’t show it, but she was disappointed that she wouldn’t be allowed to sleep in Mike’s room with him. It made sense, though. Karen was under the impression that the teens had only known each other for a few hours, not two years.

Pivoting her head to look at Mike, a mischievous smirk tugged at the corners of El’s mouth. _Maybe I’ll be able to sneak into his room once everyone’s asleep._

Mike could tell she was scheming something in that pretty head of hers, but he had no clue what. Furrowing his eyebrows, he mouthed, ‘What?’

El’s grin only grew wider in response before she turned to look at Mrs. Wheeler again. “Can I please sleep in the guest room?” asked as politely as she could. 

“Of course, dear,” Karen smiled. “Once I get finished with the dishes I’ll go make the bed for you.”

Just as Mike was about to tell his mom that he would go do it, Nancy beat him to it. “Don’t worry, mom. I’ll take care of it. Plus, I need to ask Jane a few more things about tutoring and give her a few books ahead of time.”

Right when Mike and El arrived at the dining table for dinner, Nancy made a big show of pretending to meet Jane, which she thankfully caught onto and went along with. Nancy proceeded to tell her mother about her discussions with Chief Hopper about tutoring Jane over the summer as she had missed a good chunk of school due to her situation.

“Oh, that would be great!” Karen exclaimed, picking up the last plate and stacking it on the other five. “Thank you, Nance.”

The three teenagers got up from their places and headed for the stairs. Eleven grabbed her satchel from the foot of the steps and followed Nancy and Mike to the linen closet in the upstairs hallway.

“I have one question about this whole thing,” Nancy announced randomly, shutting the guest bedroom door behind her.

Both Mike and Eleven eyed the brunette questionably, waiting expectantly for her to elaborate.

Shaking her head with a light chuckle, Nancy tossed the clean sheets onto the bare mattress. With a heavy sigh, she put her hands on her hips, tilting her head to one side as she scrutinized Eleven. “How did my mom not recognize you?”

It was a rhetorical question, but a valid one nonetheless. How _did_ Karen not realize that this girl was the very one who the government agents were searching her house for? That _she_ was the runaway ‘threat to society’ that was being hidden by her very own son in the basement right under her nose?

They even showed her a photograph, one with surprisingly good quality, at that. Anyone would have remembered the look in the girl’s eyes—the pain and suffering that she endured, the trauma that would haunt her until the day she died was evident in the black and white photo.

Yet Karen Wheeler didn’t make any correlation.

Of course, she felt like Jane was familiar, but she just brushed it off, assuming that she had just seen her in passing somewhere. This girl with shoulder-length chestnut hair and resilient golden orbs seemed far too content and normal to be dangerous.

If only she had seen the numbers permanently inked onto the skin of her right wrist.

“I-I don’t know,” El shrugged, wide-eyed and worried that maybe Mrs. Wheeler _did_ recognize her but just didn’t say anything. Maybe she was just waiting for them to leave the room so she could contact the bad men so they’d come and take her away again.

Mike immediately sensed the shift in the atmosphere. Whenever Eleven was anxious about something, he could tell automatically, as if they were connected somehow. “El,” he cautiously took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “It’s okay, she didn’t know it was you. And even if she did, I’d never let her tell anyone. Okay? I’ll protect you no matter what.”

“I second that,” Nancy nervously chimed in. She didn’t mean to freak Eleven out, that was not her intent whatsoever. “I’m sorry that I got you all worked up. I just find it funny that my mom is so oblivious, that’s all.”

El giggled, pulling her attention from her boyfriend and moving it to the older girl. “It’s okay. Thank you.”

“Anytime, Eleven,” she smiled gently. Clapping her hands together after a few seconds, Nancy said, “Alright, now let’s get this bed ready and then I’ll go grab the books for you. Sound good?”

“So, here are two of the workbooks we’ll use for science,” Nancy informed, placing the hardcovers on the freshly made bed. Tapping the cover of the one titled _8th Grade Common Core: Science_ , she told Eleven, “We’ll use this one to learn about basic life functions and things about the earth, like climate and biomes.”

El nodded, she wasn’t sure what a biome was but she brushed it off and kept listening to her boyfriend’s sister explain things to her.

“Now, this one,” Nancy sighed heavily, pointing to the thinner text titled _Structures & Functions of the Human Body, Volume 3: Endocrine & Reproductive Systems _. “This one is for the ‘teenager stuff.’ This is the scientific side of it so we won’t go too in depth there, but it will help me to better explain what Hopper wants me to teach you.”

“Got it,” Eleven smiled, beyond excited that she was finally going to learn even more.

The sound of the shower turning off caught El’s attention. Once Nancy had returned to the guest room with the stack of books, Mike had left to take a shower. For some reason, the thought of her boyfriend standing under the streams of hot water, not wearing anything, made her face get hot and her heart slam against her rib cage. She ignored it, though.

“Okay, that’s all I needed to give ya,” Nancy said, standing up from her spot on the bed. “I’m gonna go take my shower now if Mike didn’t use all the hot water like he usually does. If I don’t see you tomorrow morning then I’ll see you in a week.”

“One week,” El confirmed, giggling at the mention of her boyfriend. “Thank you, Nancy.”

“You’re welcome, El,” the blue-eyed girl smiled. “Oh, and I recommend you keep the smaller book out of Mike’s sight. Boys get… weird… about that kind of stuff. You’ll see why eventually.”

“Okay,” the telekinetic did as Nancy suggested, tucking the book away in her bag.

The girls bid each other goodnight, the elder shutting the door on her way out of the room, leaving the younger alone. Eleven decided to change into her pajamas since they were much more comfortable than the denim she was wearing. Once she was done with exchanging her jeans for her flannel pants and her long sleeved t-shirt for a short sleeved one, she opened the door partially, hoping that Mike would come back before he had to go to bed.

Hoping that maybe he would give her a goodnight kiss, a promise that he’d see her when she woke up the next morning. Maybe he’d tell her that as soon as everyone else was asleep, he’d come back or she could sneak into his room so they could be with one another for a little longer. So that as they drifted off to sleep, he could hold her in his warm embrace.

“Hey, El,” Mike’s gentle voice drifted through the doorway. “Can I come in?”

Humming in response, El continued to fold her clothing from the day, finishing up the task of tucking the articles back into her satchel. Mike let himself in, shutting the door behind him.

“Hi,” El said, making her way to the mattress. She sat on the edge so her feet were suspended off the ground. “How was your shower?”

“It was fine,” Mike shrugged, settling down next to his girlfriend. He carefully wrapped his arms around her torso, resting his chin in the dip between her collarbone and shoulder with a lovesick smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“Mike!” Eleven giggled, squirming around in his embrace. “That tickles!”

“What?” Mike asked, unsure of what she was referring to.

“Your chin,” she said breathlessly. “It’s digging into my shoulder.”

“Oh,” his dopey grin morphed into a devilish smirk. Aware that there was a pressure point somewhere in the general vicinity where his chin was, he gently pressed with a little more force, not wanting to hurt her.

“Mike, stop it!” She whined, laughing and struggling to get out of his tight hold on her. “Please!”

“Just ‘cause you asked nicely,” he caved, pressing a small kiss to her cheek.

For a few minutes, the couple basked in the comfort that they brought to one another, enjoying each other’s company in tranquil silence.

“I missed you so much,” Mike mumbled, breaking the quietness.

“I missed you, too,” Eleven murmured. Shifting around in his embrace, she asked, “Can we lay down?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Crawling up the bed and tugging the sheets over their bodies, they cuddled up with Mike on his back and El on her side, her head on his chest. Mike held her close, his arms wrapped around her waist, their legs tangled together.

Sensing his eyes on her, Eleven craned her neck to look up at Mike, finding an adorable grin on his face with heavy eyelids.

It was so cute that she couldn’t help the blush creeping its way onto her face and the butterflies swarming in her stomach. Burying her face into his shirt once again, she asked, “What?”

“Nothing,” he replied, his gaze remaining transfixed on the girl in his arms. “You’re just beautiful is all.”

Pulling her face away from his shirt, her doe eyes hopeful, she questioned, “Really?”

“Yes, of course, El,” he reassured breathily. “You’re absolutely gorgeous, I can’t believe that you’re my girlfriend.” He stopped, trying to wrap his head around how she wanted to be with him. “Like, out of all the people in the world, you chose _me_. I’m just an awkward, tall, skinny nerd and you’re like…” he trailed off, incapable of finding words to describe how perfect she truly was.

“You’re just so amazing, El. I-I can’t even explain how extraordinary you are.”

She looked up at him then with watery eyes and a heart-stopping smile, the three words she wanted to say were unable to make it to her tongue, subconsciously afraid of admitting her love for him, fearing he didn’t reciprocate her feelings. All she could get out was, “Thank you. You’re beautiful, too, Mike.”

Then, Mike’s lips captured El’s in an exhilarating kiss, desperate to prove that he meant every single word he said moments before. Their mouths moved in sync with one another’s, pulling away to breathe then diving right back in for more.

Eventually, Eleven ended the passionate exchange, her heart bursting with a happiness that she’d never experienced before. She buried her face in the crook of Mike’s neck, a close-lipped smile gracing her features.

“Just letting you know, I’m gonna have to sneak back into my room once you fall asleep. If you get scared at any point, come to me, okay?” Mike told her, rubbing soothing circles on her back. “If you don’t come to me, I’ll come in here to wake you up in the morning.”

“Mmmmkay,” she sighed, on the verge of sleep.

“Goodnight, Eleven,” he said softly, pressing one last kiss to her forehead.

“Night, Mike.”


	8. Imagine.

Eight:  _ Imagine. _

“Imagine a world like that  
We go like up 'til I'm 'sleep on your chest  
Love how my face fits so good in your neck  
Why can't you imagine a world like that?  
Imagine a world  
Knew you were perfect after the first kiss  
Took a deep breath like, "Ooh"”

Date: Sunday, August 4th, 1985

* * *

The six teenagers walked towards the Byers' new house in silence after a few hours of messing around at the arcade. It had officially been one month since that horrific night at Starcourt mall. One month without Hopper or Billy. One month since Eleven lost her powers. One month of complete sorrow.

When El saw Joyce and the look of pure pain etched into her features, she knew. She knew Hop was gone. But she couldn’t believe it—didn’t want to believe it.

Thousands of worries bounced around inside her head, her biggest fear being that she would have nowhere to live, nobody to take care of her. But when Joyce approached and offered to take her in as she cried into Mike’s green and yellow striped polo, some of El’s worry subsided.

Joyce decided that since she was going to be responsible for Eleven, moving out of Hawkins would not be the brightest idea. Deep down she was itching to get the hell out of that shitty town but she was terrified of how the girl would react. So, she found a small home far from her old one, still in Hawkins, but on the other side of town.

Surprisingly, Eleven got used to living with the Byers pretty quickly. Until they moved, she shared a room with Will, which allowed the two to become closer because they never spent much time together beforehand. Not to mention the fact that Will was constantly masking how envious he was that Eleven had Mike and not him.

Nancy was able to tutor Eleven for the entire month of June, spending hours preparing for her first year of school. But, after everything that went down, the sessions didn’t start back up until the last week of July. El still had a ton of things to learn and not much time left to do so.

However, because Nancy was eager to get the most awkward part of her teaching over with, she got the sex ed portion out of the way as soon as possible. As awful as she felt about it, she couldn’t bring herself to tell pure Eleven about how making out worked or anything along those lines. Once everything else was covered, that being the mandatory information about puberty, when the right age is to do things of that nature, protection, etc., she gave the teen a few copies of Cosmopolitan that were on the tamer side of things.

The Party came to a stop in front of a quaint home, about a half mile from the school. Opposed to their previous bungalow, their new residence was tall with three stories, one of them being an attic.

Will broke the silence, "We're here, guys."

The other five teens looked up at the brick house before them.

"I like this already," Dustin exclaimed, running towards the grey front door.

"Thank you, Dusty-Bun," Eleven teased, allowing her friends inside. Dustin rolled his eyes at the nickname and entered the home with the rest of the party following him.

Will and El happily showed their friends around their new residence, pointing out which rooms were which and allowing them to look around.

Since Jonathan was going off to college soon, he willingly took the smallest bedroom in the house. Will let El have the bedroom in the attic because he figured she would prefer to have the floor to herself. She was very thankful that Will was so understanding of her wanting some space. He knew it would be hard for her to adjust to her new life.

"And now for the best floor of the house, the third floor!" El announced as she made her way up the stairs.

"So, here's the hangout space. My mom agreed to let El and I decorate it and organize it however we wanted since we would be up here most," Will explained as his friends looked around the room.

The room had one window that overlooked the street. Under the window was a small T.V. that was set to face the couch that was placed a few feet in front of the staircase. There was a table with chairs off to the one side and another smaller sofa on the other.

"Woah this is tooootally tuuuubulllaar," Lucas joked, receiving an eye roll from his red-headed girlfriend.

"Seriously, this is really nice," Max said.

"You know what's even nicer?" El asked, mostly directed at Mike.

"What?"

"My room," She winked and took his hand. Mike's face flushed while being dragged away by his girlfriend. Will and Lucas stood in total shock because of El's out-of-character wink while Dustin and Max found it quite amusing. Eventually, they all walked into El's room to look around.

"Wow El, I love it!" Mike grinned as he sat on her bed that was decorated with a pink comforter and white and grey pillows. Her bed didn't have a frame so it was just set on the box spring on the floor. The space behind the head of the mattress had a few photos of her with the party as well as some drawings.

Eleven learned that she loved art, just like Will; the siblings would spend hours on end perfecting their works until their hands became sore. The three other grey walls in her room had posters or framed photos she took from the cabin.

"Well, I better head home," Dustin sighed before standing up, "My mom will get mad if I'm late for dinner again..."

"Yeah, same here," Lucas agreed. The teens all walked downstairs to grab their belongings before heading home.

"Thanks for having us over and showing us around, guys," Max smiled as she walked down the driveway.

"Anytime, Max," El cheerfully responded, pulling her friend into a quick hug.

Mike, El, and Will watched Max skateboard and Dustin and Lucas bike down the road until they were out of sight.

"So, what movie do you guys wanna watch?" El asked the two boys while they made their way to Will's room so he could change into pajamas.

Will shrugged, "Up to you two. I'll probably fall asleep like I always do."

"El, you choose then. I'm fine with anything," Mike said as he grabbed his overnight bag from Will's room and went to change in the bathroom. Mike was staying with the Byers for the week because Karen was chaperoning at Holly's summer camp and Ted was away on a business trip. So, instead of staying at home with Nancy, Mike asked Joyce if he could stay for the week and she was more than happy to have him.

El made her way up to her room to change as well. She threw on a blue and purple flannel overtop a pink tank top and a pair of grey shorts. She looked for a movie to watch while she waited for the boys.

* * *

Will was fast asleep about fifteen minutes into the movie, which gave Mike and El the opportunity to do whatever they wanted to. Mike was lying on his back while El was on her side, using Mike's chest as a pillow. She had one leg overtop his and he had his arms wrapped around her torso.

His eyes were glued to the T.V. screen when El wiggled out of his embrace.

"You okay, El?" Mike asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just really hot," she sighed. "Do you mind if I take off my shirt?"

Mike stopped breathing and his eyes bulged, "Well, uh, do you have a...a t-shirt or something under it?"

She tilted her head in confusion, "Yes… why wouldn't I?"

"I-I don't know..." Mike shrugged. El put her legs on either side of his and pushed herself to sit on top of him. Mike's face flushed and his heart rate rapidly increased.

_ Relax!  _ Mike scolded himself.  _ She probably doesn't understand how… intimate… this position is… _

El started to unbutton the flannel when she noticed the flustered look on her boyfriend's freckled face. "Mike, what's wrong?" She stopped what she was doing and placed her hands on his chest.

"No-nothing," he lied. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to explain to her why it was so… unusual… for her to be sitting the way she was. El rolled her eyes and went back to her buttons.

"You're lying," she pointed out as she shrugged the oversized flannel off her shoulders. "But, if you don't want to tell me now that's fine. You better tell me sometime, though."

"El, I want to tell you, trust me, I do, but I..." he squeezed his eyes shut and let out an exasperated sigh. "I just can't. You'll learn about it in health class, okay?"

"Okay, Mike. I understand," she smiled softly and gazed into his eyes. She didn’t want to ruin the sweet moment by telling him that she probably knew what he was referring to because of her tutoring sessions.

Mike returned the smile and moved his hands to her waist as she slowly leaned down and kissed his cheek. She pulled away and sat upright again, stupidly smiling at the boy beneath her.

Crossing his arms, Mike pouted and directed his gaze back to the T.V., wanting to continue kissing instead of receiving one simple peck.

However, El didn't understand he wasn't being serious and went into panic mode, "Mike, I'm sorry. What did I do?"

Once he heard the concern laced in her voice he looked at her with a soft and loving expression. "You didn't do anything wrong, Eleven. I was joking around because I was hoping for, ya know, a real kiss."

"Oh..." El buried her head in her hands, embarrassed because of not understanding his actions. She took her hands away with a sigh and lightly grabbed Mike's shoulders. "Is it okay if I lay down?"

"Oh… uh, sure,” he responded, hesitantly pulling her body to lay comfortably on top of his. El’s arms tucked up between them, her right palm splayed on his chest while the other was in a soft fist beneath her chin. Mike’s arms wrapped securely around El’s waist, pulling her as close as possible.

"Mike?" Eleven broke the silence between them.

"Yes, El?"

Shuffling around to prop her weight up on her one elbow, she asked, "Can we try something?"

"Uh, sure, I guess,” Mike replied skeptically. “What… what is it that you want to try?"

"Can we kiss, but like… more?" El's cheeks turned bright red and she bit her lip, trying to remember what the word was.

"Do you mean, like, make out?" he prompted.

"Yeah, that! I just couldn't remember the word," She giggled as she face-palmed herself. "So...can we?" She batted her lengthy eyelashes, smiling innocently.

"Yes, of course,” he forced a grin, though it came across as more of a wince. “Where… where did you hear about making out?”

"A magazine,” She replied casually. It was the truth. Nancy had provided her some after she finished the basics of sex ed, especially the important information schools left out.

Just then, it clicked in Mike’s brain. He had almost forgotten about their little discussion back in June when El was asking about being turned on.

_ “When I was talking to Nancy. About tutoring. She was acting funny, like you just were, when I said that Hop told me to ask her to teach me about ‘teenage things.’ But, not just the stuff at school.” _

_ So _ , Mike thought,  _ Nancy must have already gotten that part of it out of the way. And knowing her, she was being weird about it so she gave Eleven magazines to continue to teach herself. Wow, nice job, Nance. _

“Uh, cool,” Mike chuckled, unsure of what else to say to ease the awkward tension in the air. His eyes fell to his girlfriend's mouth, finding her bottom lip between her teeth, pupils dilated so greatly they almost completely dominated the area of her golden irises.

“El,” he breathed, overwhelmed by everything that seemed to be happening at once. He couldn’t take just staring at her any longer. He needed to feel her soft lips moving against his own, feel her body pressed up on his with no space between them. “Kiss me.”

Eleven didn’t hesitate one second, eagerly grabbing the collar of Mike’s t-shirt and yanking him towards her, her mouth moving with his almost instantly.

The heated exchange lasted a few moments, dizzying both of them beyond belief at the new sensations coursing through their veins.

When Mike had first heard about making out and how great it was, he wasn't entirely sure how it was supposed to feel good. Like, what’s so great about kissing, sucking, and biting on someone's skin? What are you, a fucking leech?

But when El’s mouth started trailing across his jawline and down his throat, he understood why it was so praised by people.

His skin was hypersensitive. Every inch that El’s mouth covered was on fire, burning and craving for her to return to that same spot and continue to let her tongue glide across it.

Since she feared hurting him because she obviously had never done this before, El kept her teeth out of the mix and her sucking to a minimum.

Panting heavily, El pulled her face out of the crook of Mike’s neck, loving the sight of him. His eyes glued shut, brows pinched together, cherry lips parted and shiny and swollen, chest heaving from the pleasure she brought to him.

"Was that good?" She couldn’t help but ask, teasing him a bit.

“Hell yes,” he breathed, eyes blearily opening. “How the hell are you so good at that?”

El shrugged innocently, tilting her head to the side, an adorable closed-mouth grin on her face.

"Now, it's your turn," Mike said once he had caught his breath. He quickly realized he definitely didn’t have enough strength to flip them over. “El?”

“Yes?”

“Can we, like,” he paused.  _ Goddamnit, saying ‘switch positions’ sounds way too sexual. _ “Can you lay down instead? I think it would be a little easier if I’m on top.”  _ Yeah, that wasn’t much better. _

The gasp that left El’s throat was barely audible. She nodded, lidded eyes sparkling with desire, and maneuvered herself to the other end of the small sofa as Mike followed suit. Without much thought, she parted her legs gently so Mike’s body could fit between them.

Biting back a groan at the sight before him, Mike leaned over her, his weight held up by his elbows. “Hi,” he whispered, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Hi,” she whispered back, lifting her right hand to his hair, threading her fingers through the locks, nudging his head closer to hers to hint that she was ready to continue what they had started.

Taking the hint, Mike captured her lips between his, sighing at the electricity shooting through his body at the contact. Since he was eager to provide El the same pleasure she had given him, Mike was about to start trailing kisses along her jawline, just like she had for him, but something stopped him.

At first, he wasn’t sure what it was, the weird sensation of something gliding across his bottom lip, but he hastily realized that it was her tongue ( _ because what else would it have been? _ ). Tentatively, he let his lips part more, letting her take the lead because clearly she was more educated on what to actually do when making out than he was. And for the first time in his life he was thankful for his sister lending El those girly magazines.

When El’s tongue met his, an involuntary groan escaped him. His eyes shot open and he cut off the kiss rapidly, as if El was on fire. Mike was mortified.

“S-sorry,” he apologized shakily. “I-I just, I didn’t—”

“Mike,” El put her index finger to his lips, shutting him up instantly. “It’s okay. That was…” she averted her gaze for a second, thinking of the right word. “Hot.”

Mike’s eyebrows disappeared beneath his bangs, “R-really?”

“Yes,” she giggled. She tugged him down for a quick kiss, letting him bury his face in the crook of her neck when he pulled away. He pressed small kisses to her soft skin, loving the content sigh that she let out.

“I’m tired,” she yawned, wrapping her arms around Mike’s torso to keep him from moving.

“Then go to sleep,” he whispered, his lips brushing the space below her ear. “Goodnight, Eleven.”

With a lovesick smile on her flushed face, she mumbled, “Goodnight Mike.”


	9. Pity Party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for disappearing for almost exactly six months, haha. I really didn’t mean to do that to you guys.  
> I get nervous when I put my writing online because I fear that it seems like I’m sexualizing whoever plays the characters that I’m writing about when that is not my intent. I’ve seen lots of stuff about how it’s gross that people write things like what I write (but more sexual, usually) and that it shouldn’t be done so then I feel guilty and lose motivation...  
> Most of what I write is taken from my life (not everything, obviously) but adjusted to fit into the Stranger Things universe so I never really thought anything of it when I started writing.  
> Anyways, I’d really appreciate if you left a comment to let me know if any of you have experienced similar thoughts and what you did to overcome them.  
> Enjoy!

Nine: _Pity Party._

“I’m laughin’, I’m cryin’  
It feels like I’m dyin’”

Date: Monday, September 2nd, 1985

* * *

High school. Four of the shittiest years of your life. Well, that's what most people say and think. Most kids were eager to start high school, just so it could be over with and they move onto college. However, one, now fifteen-year-old, telekinetic girl was over the moon to start her freshman year at Hawkins High, but not just to get through it. Eleven Hopper-Byers couldn't wait for the next four years of her life. She was finally becoming a normal teenager, and this would just make it better.

Or so she thought.

"Eleven, come on we can't be late on the first day!" Will shouted as he banged on El’s bedroom door. She bolted upright, frantically glancing at her analog clock on her bedside table.

6:41 a.m..

_Shit! I can’t make us late on the first day!_

She threw her door open and Will stumbled into her room. She stifled a laugh as she reached down to help him up. “Sorry, I didn’t sleep well because I’m so excited.”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand to help him stand up, "Wish I could say the same."

"Anyways," he broke the silence that had fallen upon the room. "What do you want to drink and do you want any syrup on your eggo's?”

El smiled at him and replied, "Water is fine and yes please."

"Alright, we're leaving at 7:10 with the rest of the Party so I recommend you hurry up, they'll be here soon." He said as he gestured towards the clock that now read 6:44 before leaving El to get herself ready for the day.

"Alright, let's go!" Dustin shouted, jogging over to his bike.

"Jeez, relax we're right here, man," Lucas grumbled, clearly not at all excited to be going back to school.

"Ready, El?" Mike asked El, squeezing her hand in his as they made their way towards his bike. Eleven hadn’t gotten the chance to learn how to ride on her own like she had wanted to because of her leg injury from the Mind Flayer, so she had to ride with someone else.

Since they had grown considerably since 1983, Mike especially, El had to stand on the pegs on the back wheels and hold onto his shoulders to stabilize herself.

Once she was situated, the group of six took off towards the high school.

Once they had arrived, they set their bikes at the bike racks and made their way to the front office to pick up their schedules.

"Okay, my locker iiiis..." Mike drew out the word as he looked over the paper to find the information he needed. “149.”

“Nice, mine’s 116,” Lucas said.

“Mine’s 117!” Max exclaimed happily, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend.

Mike just shook his head in amusement, “Watch them break up again in, like, three days and have to deal with being next to each other.”

“Shut up, dweeb,” the redhead flicked the back of Mike’s head.

Lucas ignored the banter and asked Will, Dustin, and El what lockers they got.

“135,” Dustin replied.

“What the hell, why do I always have to be the one that gets screwed?” Will groaned, throwing his head back in aggravation. Lucas, Max, and Dustin all tried to not burst out laughing at his annoyance, but they could barely keep it together. "Oh shut up, would you?" Will snapped at the trio of snickering idiots.

“Why’re you screwed this time?” Mike asked, ignoring the obnoxious giggles from his friends.

“My locker is 21, that’s so far from any of yours,” Will said.

“Don’t worry, Will,” El comforted, her hand on his shoulder. “Mine’s far from everyone’s, too. It’s 322.”

“Seriously?” Mike all but whined. With a sigh, he tried to lighten the mood. “Well, let’s see if any of our classes match up, then.”

“Okay, so who has Honors Geometry first period?” Mike asked, assuming the role of mediator as always.

“I do,” Will replied.

Dustin and Max had Honors English together first period while Lucas and El had World History.

“Alright, what about Honors English for second?”

Sadly, Mike was all going to be alone for that period. El had Algebra One, Dustin and Lucas had Honors Geometry, and Max and Will had French One.

“Hah, sucks to be you,” Max laughed, earning a death glare from the tallest Party member.

“How about Honors Bio for third period?”

Lucas, Dustin, and Mike would be together for that as well as Health for fourth, Physical Education for fifth, and French One for sixth. Will would be with the other three boys for Biology, but would be with Max for fourth (World History), fifth (Health), and sixth (P.E.).

Eleven had Academic English for her third class, Earth Science for her fourth, Health for her fifth, and P.E. for her sixth.

“And I think all freshmen have seventh period lunch so at least we will all be together then,” Mike said as he continued to scan over his schedule. “Who has a study hall eighth period?”

“I do, but I won’t be with you,” El told him glumly.

“What, why not?”

“Because, last week, Joyce brought me here for a meeting with the principal and the learning service lady. She told them about my lack of schooling and decided it would be best if I had my study hall with her so she could help me with assignments if I get stuck."

"Oh, well okay. I guess that makes sense,” Mike smiled softly as he reached down to hold her hand. "I'm also here to help you with anything that may confuse you, okay?" El smiled up at her boyfriend graciously.

“We’ll also help you if you need it, El,” Dustin assured her before determining that he would be in the same study hall as Mike. Lucas figured out he and Will would be together for Honors English. Max would be in Earth Science that period.

“Okay, anyone have World History last?” Mike honestly couldn’t keep track of who had said which class they had with him, but he figured he’d figure it out as the school year went on.

“I do,” Dustin confirmed.

“Ugh, Algebra Two last period? Are you shitting me?” Max swore. Math was always her least favorite subject and the fact that she had to have it the last class of the day was frustrating. She would rather get it over with than put it off till the end.

“Yikes,” Lucas consoled half-heartedly. “I have my study hall then.”

“Cool, El and I have art so it’s kinda like a study hall because it’s not stressful. I hope,” Will said.

The bell alerting the start of third period had rung throughout the school. El sat in her assigned seat near the front of the English classroom, patiently waiting for class to begin.

"Good morning, students!" The overly-cheerful teacher began. "My name is Mrs. Demartin. I am looking forwards to a great year with you. I have a fun debate planned for us today that will help us to get an idea of the first piece of literature we will be reading and analyzing together, but before that, how about we get to know each other better. I know many of you do know each other, but we have a few new students who just moved into Hawkins. First, state your first and last name, your age, if you have any siblings and or pets, and your hobbies."

The classroom of teens listened to teacher intently, wanting to make a good impression. "We will start in the front corner of the room and go up and down the rows; alright, go ahead," she nodded towards El. 

She looked around nervously at the eyes burning into her skin. She closed her eyes and released her breath, shaking with nerves.

"Um, hi..." she spoke quietly as she glanced around the room. "My name is Jane Hopper, uh, I'm 15 years old… I have two brothers, and uh, I like drawing and going to the arcade with my friends and my brother." She immediately directed her gaze back to her desk and completely tuned out what the rest of her classmates were saying about themselves. She didn't even try to care, she just wanted to be with her friends and Mike.

Once every student had shared facts about themselves, the teacher explained that they would be debating some controversies of the story of _Romeo and Juliet._ She gave a brief summary of the story for those who had not heard of it before stating the first topic. The kids would have a moment to decide whether they agreed with the statement or not, then would go to one side of the room and discuss with the other students who had the same views as them. Then, Mrs. Demartin asked one student from the ‘positive’ side to explain their reasoning, then a student on the ‘negative’ side would do the same. This went back and forth for five minutes max and then a new topic would be chosen and it would cycle through.

"Alright, last mini-debate topic of the day," Mrs. Demartin announced. "Are Romeo and Juliet really in love, or is it just intense infatuation?"

"Oh shit, that's deep." Some blonde boy blurted out, receiving a laugh from the rest of the students. Mrs, Demartin fought back a chuckle before scolding him for his language. El's mind began to go all over the place.

 _Of course they're in love,_ she thought, _they risked their lives to be together, when they weren't even supposed to be! It's like me and Mike, I'm still a threat to him but he takes care of me and doesn't care if it's a risk. Just like how Romeo didn't give up on getting Juliet, Mike called me for 353 days because he knew that I was there, he didn't just give up on hoping I was still alive. God, how'd I get so lucky to have him? I lo—_

"Alright students!" Mrs. Demartin snapped El out of her daydream, "Go to this side of the room if you think it's love, and that side if you think it's infatuation, and the middle if you aren't really sure."

The students dispersed to whichever side they believed was right and began to discuss with each other their thoughts. Even though she was nervous, El discussed her views with the other kids. It was pretty easy for her to talk about because Nancy read it with her a few weeks prior.

"Wow, Jane," a green-eyed brunette girl gasped. "You totally should go up there and talk, you'll prove them all wrong!" 

"Yeah, Jane! You have to, you really know what your talking about. We can tell that you have some sort of connection to the story..." Another girl encouraged.

El's face flushed and her palms began to sweat. "Oh, I don't think—I don't think I should be the one to...to talk...I'm not very, uh, good at it..." 

"You just talked with us perfectly fine, though. Come on, Jane, we can tell you feel some kind of connection to the story." A short blonde boy smiled.

_I really don't wanna disappoint them…_

"Fine," El sighed. The students on her side cheered but were cut off when Mrs. Demartin told them it was time to start debating.

"Okay, let's start with the people who think it's just infatuation."

A red-headed boy stood up and cleared his throat. "It's obviously infatuation, they literally never said a word to each other and after, like, a week were getting married just because they were attracted to each other!"

The kids on El's side shook their heads in disagreement. Mrs. Demartin told the representative for the opposing side to state their views. El stood up slowly, squeezing her eyes shut and inhaling deeply and willing her voice not to waver.

"Even though they may have only known each other for a short amount of time and looks are what initially brought them together, they develop a deep understanding of each other. They both risked their lives to be together… you don't do that for someone who you just think is attractive. And in the end, Romeo dies to be with her.” She leaves out the part that Juliet turns out to still be alive because that would spoil even more of the story, in her opinion. “That is clearly love."

The red-headed boy shook his head and stood up, ready to prove El wrong. "They're way too young to understand what love even is. They're like, fourteen!" He sneered.

El wanted to pop that boy’s brain like a water balloon. _Oh, if only you knew what Mike saved me from and how much he meant to me._

"Who says you have to be a certain age to understand what love is? Have you ever been in love?" She retorted, cocking an eyebrow sassily, something she had picked up from Max. She was not going to let him win, even if it was just some stupid class debate.

"Uh, logic says so, princess. People who claim they're in love at our age aren't in love at all and just play with others emotions. And no, I haven't been in love, how is that even relevant?"

"It’s relevant because I'm in love with someone who saved me from my hellish childhood and took care of me even though I was a stranger. I was taken away from him after a week and at that point I had no idea what love was, but now looking back on it, I know I have been in love with him ever since he found me. He loves me, too because he risked his life for me and did whatever he could to protect me, he called me for almost an entire year when everyone else thought I was dead, and after I finally got back to him, he's never let anything hurt me. And even though my father didn't want us together and tried to force us apart, he didn't listen and came to me whenever I needed him."

El tried to ease her uneven breathing as she stumbled back towards her desk. _Oh no, did I say too much?_

Everyone else in the room had wide eyes and their mouths agape. Nobody was expecting that, especially not from the girl who seemed to barely talk.

"Thank you, Jane. Do you need to get a drink?" Mrs. Demartin asked quietly.

El shook her head, "No, I'm okay."

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. El grabbed her backpack and rushed out of the classroom, extremely overwhelmed by what she had just said.

She shook the thoughts away as she looked around for her next class.

After the bell rang at the end of fourth period, El made her way to the health classroom. As soon as she walked through the door she saw Max eagerly wave her over to the empty seat beside hers. Will was seated next to Max and greeted his sister and asked how she was holding up. She told them about her day so far, especially English class, and asked the two about their day as well.

"Okay, El. Before class starts there's some stuff you should know for this class," Max leaned over to El and spoke in a low voice as to not let anyone, especially Will, overhear. El nodded slowly, confused as to what the redhead was talking about.

"So, at our age, everyone knows about the stuff we are going to be learning in this class already, but not like everything, if that makes sense. We just all have at least a general knowledge, ya know?" El nodded, signaling for her to continue. "And also, people our age can be very, uh… immature about this stuff and they also tease others quite a lot for no reason. Basically, what I'm saying is, if there's something you don't understand, come to me after school and I'll explain. You'll understand why you should come to me instead of any of the boys, trust me."

"Okay, Max, thank you," El smiled. She opened her mouth to tell her that she probably knew a majority of the information, too, because of her tutoring sessions with Nancy, but the bell cut her off.

The teacher began to explain what they would be learning this year as she handed out a syllabus with more information on it. She said that they would be covering the endocrine system as well both male and female reproductive systems for the first unit. El listened intently as the woman spoke, glancing over at Will who looked extremely uncomfortable and then at Max whose face was bright red.

El sighed and slouched in her seat, her mind wandering to Mike. She wondered what he was doing in P.E.. She was not looking forward to that class because of things Will told her. He told her how they had to play games like dodgeball and that the small ones, like themselves, were always the main targets. He told her that he always ends up getting pegged in the face by someone whipping the ball really hard, even if the person wasn't aiming at him.

Finally, the period ended and Max, Will, and El made their way to P.E..

"God, that was literally hell," Max groaned as she and El made their way to the girl's locker room. El nodded weakly as she tried to catch her breath. Not counting using her powers, El had never used so much energy in her life. She stumbled through the door as her head continued to throb.

"Well, at least we get to eat now, right?" Max sighed while tearing open her gym bag.

"Yeah," El mumbled as she untied her shoelaces. The girls quickly changed into their normal clothes and headed to the cafeteria. As soon as they entered the busy room they spotted their boyfriends, Dustin, and Will sitting at an isolated table. To say El was happy about their table choice was an understatement; she hated being so close to so many people in a relatively confined space.

As soon as she took the seat next to Mike, El bashed her head into the table, not hard enough to hurt herself, but hard enough to produce a loud 'thud'.

"El?" Mike placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. She didn't budge, causing Mike to shake her a bit more. She reluctantly lifted her head off the table and glared at him.

"What, Mike?" She snapped. She didn't know why she was being rude to him, all he was doing was making sure she was okay.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You look exhausted and sad, I hate seeing you like that," He spoke calmly, not wanting to upset his irritated girlfriend anymore than she already was. El's rage-filled eyes locked with his concern ridden ones. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak, she broke down sobbing and fell into Mike's chest.

 _God, what is wrong with me?_ El thought. _One minute I'm tired, then I'm angry, then I'm sad? What the hell is happening to me?!_

The rest of the party members looked at Mike, extremely confused as to why El was crying. Mike mouthed 'I have no clue' as he wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl. He rubbed her back and ran his fingers through her frizzy hair. He did everything he could to comfort her while she cried into his chest.

El eventually stopped crying and grabbed a napkin from her lunchbox to wipe her nose. It hurt Mike more than anything to see her with bloodshot eyes and tearstained cheeks. All he wanted was for her to be happy, and it only made him think that maybe he wasn't good enough to do so.

"I'm sorry," she choked out. Her voice was scratchy and an octave higher than usual. Lucas, Dustin, Will and Max all reassured her that she did nothing wrong and 'that if she wanted to talk about it, she could' or they 'hope she's okay now.'

Mike slowly wiped away the remaining tears on El's face while he held her hand in his free one. She smiled softly at his actions and squeezed his hand lightly. "Thank you, Mikey."

Mike tried to hold back the smile that was making its way onto his face. "Since when am I Mikey?"

El giggled and shrugged before she leaned towards him to rest her head on his shoulder. The table had fallen silent; everyone was slightly worried if they said something El might have another outburst.

A few more minutes passed before El spoke up, "I'm sorry, guys. I don't know what's wrong with me. Gym was really tiring, I almost felt more sick than I did when I closed the gate, and I felt like I was gonna die then. And I just got really angry at literally nothing and then I felt bad for being mean to Mike for no reason and I-I'm sorry."

"El, it's okay,” Max comforted, popping a chip in her mouth. “We all get like that sometimes. It's just what happens when you're a teenager.”

El nodded weakly, not noticing how the four boys made awkward eye contact, knowing very well what Max was talking about. The redhead, however, did notice their flushed faces and called them out for it.

"Oh, grow up, would you?” She scolded.

Lucas, Will, and Dustin all tried to fall back into a normal conversation after Max verbally attacked them, but Mike’ face was still bright red. El’s face fell at how weirded-out he seemed as he ate his lunch in silence. She took his hand in hers and his stiff posture relaxed almost automatically, causing El to smile.

The group spent the remainder of the period discussing how their day had been so far. El told them about her moment in English class, however she left out the part where she said she was in love with Mike, and Will bragged about not getting hurt in P.E. for once. Dustin and Lucas complained about their seats in Geometry, Mike whined about having none of them in English with him, and Max simply stated that she didn't have anything to complain about yet.

The period that seemed to last for hours sadly came to an end. The six teens broke off in the directions of their next classes as they prayed the rest of the day would fly by.


End file.
